Solar Company SunPower Files for Bankruptcy Protection

TapTechNews August 7th news, solar energy company SunPower announced on the evening of August 5th that it has filed for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code and agreed to sell some of its business to Complete Solaria for $45 million (TapTechNews note: currently about 322 million Chinese yuan).

The documents filed by SunPower with the US Bankruptcy Court in Delaware show that its assets and liabilities range between $1 billion and $10 billion, and then the company's stock price fell about 45% to 44 cents before the market opened on Tuesday. Since the beginning of this year, its share price has plummeted by more than 90%.

RaymondJames analyst Pavel Molchanov expects the asset sale process to be completed by the end of 2024, by which time the established solar energy giant SunPower founded in 1985 will no longer exist.

Foreign media CNBC reported that due to high interest rates suppressing demand, resulting in excessive inventory on hand for enterprises, the residential solar energy industry has been hit hard. But SunPower's stock has also come under pressure due to alleged improper behavior accusations in its reporting practices.

In less than two years, this once-favored industry player has been forced to lay off workers to cut costs, restate earnings, and default on credit agreements. In 2024, SunPower changed its chief executive officer, restructured its business, and an independent accountant also resigned in June.

Due to the sharp decline in solar energy market demand and SunPower's inability to obtain new capital, the company is facing a severe liquidity crisis, wrote Matthew Henry, the company's Chief Transformation Officer, in the bankruptcy application.