Canadian Solar (NASDAQ: CSIQ) Faces Headwinds Following Mixed Q2 Results and Lower Price Target

• Citigroup maintained its “Neutral” rating on Canadian Solar but lowered its price target to $15 from $18.
• Canadian Solar reported a GAAP net loss of $1.40 per share, wider than the Zacks estimate of a $1.01 loss, while net revenue of $1.21 billion exceeded expectations.
• Battery-storage shipments increased 73% year over year, while solar-module shipments declined 60% year over year but increased 25% sequentially.

Canadian Solar (NASDAQ: CSIQ) is a global solar technology and renewable-energy company. It manufactures solar photovoltaic modules, provides battery-storage products, and develops, owns, and operates utility-scale solar and energy-storage projects. Its operations are divided between its Manufacturing segment and Recurrent Energy, its project-development and power-services business.

On August 27, 2026, Citigroup maintained its “Neutral” rating on Canadian Solar and reduced its price target to $15 from $18. A Neutral rating generally indicates that the analyst expects the shares to perform roughly in line with the broader market or relevant peer group. It should not be interpreted as personalized advice for investors to maintain their current positions. 

Canadian Solar’s second-quarter 2026 results presented a mixed picture. The company reported a GAAP net loss attributable to shareholders of $76.9 million, or $1.40 per share. This was wider than the Zacks consensus estimate of a $1.01-per-share loss and compared with a loss of $0.08 per share in the same quarter of 2025.

Although Canadian Solar recorded GAAP net income attributable to shareholders of approximately $7 million in the prior-year quarter, its per-share result was a loss of $0.08. The company explains that its per-share calculation includes the effect of paid-in-kind dividends on Recurrent Energy’s redeemable preferred shares and, when applicable, convertible bonds.

Net revenue reached $1.21 billion, exceeding the Zacks consensus estimate of $1.17 billion by approximately 3.6%. Revenue increased 12% sequentially but declined 28.7% year over year from approximately $1.69 billion. The annual decline primarily reflected lower solar-module and project sales.

Gross profit fell to $168.5 million from $505 million in the prior-year quarter. The gross margin decreased to 13.9%, compared with 25.1% in the first quarter of 2026 and 29.8% in the second quarter of 2025.

The margin contraction should not be attributed solely to lower revenue. Canadian Solar said the sequential decline primarily reflected the absence of tariff-refund benefits recognized in the preceding quarter and the normalization of energy-storage margins. The year-over-year comparison was also affected by the absence of a release of unrealized profit associated with the sales-type lease of a U.S. project recorded in Q2 2025.

Operationally, Canadian Solar shipped 3.7 GWh of battery-storage products, representing increases of 82% sequentially and 73% year over year. Of that amount, 471 MWh went to internal projects under construction, with the associated revenue expected to be recognized in future periods.

Solar-module shipments recognized as revenue totaled 3.1 GW. This represented a 25% sequential increase but a 60% year-over-year decrease. Therefore, the original statement that module shipments declined 25% was incorrect. Canadian Solar’s official Q2 results

For the third quarter of 2026, Canadian Solar expects:

• Revenue between $1.3 billion and $1.5 billion
• Gross margin between 13.5% and 15.5%
• Solar-module shipments between 3.5 GW and 3.8 GW
• Battery-storage shipments between 3.4 GWh and 3.8 GWh

Management expects Recurrent Energy’s delayed project sales to support sequential improvement in the third quarter. However, ramp-up expenses associated with the company’s new solar-cell facility in Indiana are expected to weigh on profitability for the remainder of 2026.