Array Technologies is the number two global leader in the manufacturing and supply of solar trackers used in utility and distributed generation solar energy projects.
8/19/25 – Position Closed: +113.4% pretax return on $4.23 cost basis.
Not bad for 8 months. Utility-scale solar remains one of the fastest ways to bring new energy on-grid to meet accelerating AI and industrial demand. Clarity on tax incentives led to recent price appreciation narrowing the risk/reward profile. Simply put, I believe there are higher-quality businesses to place capital today. Also sold as part of a strategic shift away from companies with elevated default risk under potential austerity conditions.
Really apreciate the depth here on ARRY. The centralized motor architcture point is interesting, havent thought much about how that single motor controlling 32 linked rows vs competitors needing one per row would impact maintennance costs over a 30 year lifecycle. The STI writedown is concerning though. Do you think their conservative approach on customer selectivity is the right move given the market share losses, or should they be more aggressive to compete with Nextracker? Curious if the Swap Robotics investment pays off beyond just vegetation management too.
Hey Robots and Chips. I actually closed my position in this back in late August. Part of my reasoning there was some of the points you brought up and I percieved that there may be more near to medium term downside than upside at around $9. The contiued writedown of STI is concerning and makes me questions management. (It does make me feel a little concerned about the true value add of Swap Robotics). I think that their products are competitive but Nextracker does have them beat. Nextracker simply has a higher margin business operation with less leverage holding them down. As far as the market share losses, I am not too concerned about that at this point in time. I expect their conservative approach to project bidding compared to Nextracker and other player is contributing to the recent downswings in marketshare. Its not uncommon for project like business models to expereince market share swings over time. Definitley something to keep an eye on though. At the end of the day the company continues to grow their backlog and customers appear to be responding positiveley to their product developments. Utility scale solar projects remain the fastest way to bring additional power onto the grid which boasts well for ARRY. I am not following it as close as I was before but still maintaining my models and following up with the earnings calls.
8/19/25 – Position Closed: +113.4% pretax return on $4.23 cost basis.
Not bad for 8 months. Utility-scale solar remains one of the fastest ways to bring new energy on-grid to meet accelerating AI and industrial demand. Clarity on tax incentives led to recent price appreciation narrowing the risk/reward profile. Simply put, I believe there are higher-quality businesses to place capital today. Also sold as part of a strategic shift away from companies with elevated default risk under potential austerity conditions.
Really apreciate the depth here on ARRY. The centralized motor architcture point is interesting, havent thought much about how that single motor controlling 32 linked rows vs competitors needing one per row would impact maintennance costs over a 30 year lifecycle. The STI writedown is concerning though. Do you think their conservative approach on customer selectivity is the right move given the market share losses, or should they be more aggressive to compete with Nextracker? Curious if the Swap Robotics investment pays off beyond just vegetation management too.
Hey Robots and Chips. I actually closed my position in this back in late August. Part of my reasoning there was some of the points you brought up and I percieved that there may be more near to medium term downside than upside at around $9. The contiued writedown of STI is concerning and makes me questions management. (It does make me feel a little concerned about the true value add of Swap Robotics). I think that their products are competitive but Nextracker does have them beat. Nextracker simply has a higher margin business operation with less leverage holding them down. As far as the market share losses, I am not too concerned about that at this point in time. I expect their conservative approach to project bidding compared to Nextracker and other player is contributing to the recent downswings in marketshare. Its not uncommon for project like business models to expereince market share swings over time. Definitley something to keep an eye on though. At the end of the day the company continues to grow their backlog and customers appear to be responding positiveley to their product developments. Utility scale solar projects remain the fastest way to bring additional power onto the grid which boasts well for ARRY. I am not following it as close as I was before but still maintaining my models and following up with the earnings calls.