SolarCity Lowers 2016 Guidance For Megawatts Installed

SolarCity Corp. said Monday that megawatts installed in the second quarter came to 201 MW, ahead of guidance of 185 MW. MW booked rose 40% from the year-earlier period to drive a "significant" improvement in sales cost per watt. "A range of sales process improvements and the introduction of a new loan offering began to help improve bookings in the second quarter, but residential bookings in the first half of the year were still lower than we anticipated overall," the company said in a statement. As a result, the company is cutting its 2016 guidance for MW installed to 900 to 1,000 MW from earlier guidance of 1,000 to 1,100 MW installed. The company is expecting two product releases in the second half that are expected to boost MW installed in 2017. The company will report second-quarter earnings after the bell on Aug. 9. Shares were halted premarket for news. The company and Tesla Motors Corp. will host a conference call at 8.00 a.m. Eastern Monday to discuss Tesla's plan to buy SolarCity. Tesla shares were slightly higher in premarket trade, while S&P 500 futures were up 2 points.