SunPower tumbles nearly 20% after pausing some operations

By Sourasis Bose

(Reuters) - SunPower shares plummeted nearly 20% on Thursday after the solar company informed clients that it is pausing some operations, including deactivating lease and power purchase agreements from its own sales platform and halting new product shipments.

In an online communication seen by Reuters and confirmed as authentic by the company, SunPower said it would stop countersigning new agreements and would be unable to support installation services for shipments in transit or already delivered.

Its shares were trading 18.6% lower at $2.06.

"We continue to dedicate our attention to address our financial position and are actively working to navigate our current challenges," the company said in a statement to Reuters.

Companies providing solar power and storage solutions have been struggling with rising inventory levels amid weakness in the rooftop solar market.

Metering reforms in California - the biggest solar market in the U.S. - have further dragged down demand, lowering the tariff residential customers receive from the grid.

SunPower has had a challenging few quarters, having received a subpoena from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in February regarding its accounting practices.

The company's CEO also left the company in the same month, while its auditor, Ernst & Young, quit in June.

In April, it announced plans to reduce its workforce and eliminate most of its direct sales channels as part of a restructuring plan to rein in costs.

Energy major TotalEnergies, one of SunPower's largest shareholders, declined to comment on the issue.

Gordon Johnson from GLJ Research cut the company's price target to $0 and raised doubts over investor commitments to the company.

SunPower's woes could likely give a boost to competitors Sunnova and Sunrun, according to Roth analysts.

(Reporting by Sourasis Bose in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid)