Solar Company’s Stock Plunge Signals Consumer Demand Slowdown

  • Enphase drags down peers after bleak revenue guidance
  • California solar subsidy cut looms over upcoming earnings

A contractor installs solar panels on the roof of a home in San Jose, California.

Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg
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Homeowners in California, the largest US rooftop-solar market, raced to buy panels in the first quarter of the year. But the regulatory change that spurred that rush may slow installations later in the year, a prospect that has investors on edge.

Shares of Enphase Energy Inc., a solar equipment manufacturer and bellwether company for the rooftop sector, plunged more than 25% Wednesday, dragging down the industry after the company issued second-quarter guidance that missed analysts’ expectations.