Israel-based smart energy firm SolarEdge to be ousted from S&P 500

After its shares nosedive more than 70% this year, Nasdaq-listed SolarEdge is set to lose its place on the world’s most-watched index

Sharon Wrobel is a tech reporter for The Times of Israel.

SolarEdge developed an inverter solution for harvesting and managing power in solar photovoltaic (PV) systems. (Screenshot/YouTube)
SolarEdge developed an inverter solution for harvesting and managing power in solar photovoltaic (PV) systems. (Screenshot/YouTube)

Israeli-founded smart energy tech firm SolarEdge Technologies, Inc. is set to lose its prestigious spot among the 500 largest companies traded on Wall Street.

Based in Herzliya and with US headquarters in California, SolarEdge will be dropped off from the S&P 500 index when the index’s rebalancing changes take effect on December 18. The announcement was made late on Friday by the S&P Dow Jones Indices.

The removal comes only two years after SolarEdge made its way onto the world’s most-watched index of the 500 largest companies traded on either the NYSE, Nasdaq, or CBOE (Chicago Board Options Exchange), joining the likes of  multinationals such as Apple, Microsoft, Meta (Facebook), Amazon and Tesla. The solar company has been traded on the Nasdaq since 2015. Firms must have a market cap of at least $14.5 billion to be eligible for listing on the S&P 500.

SolarEdge was founded in 2006, seeking to make solar energy more affordable and widespread. It developed an inverter solution for harvesting and managing power in solar photovoltaic (PV) systems. In 2010, the company commercialized its SolarEdge direct current (DC) optimized inverter system to increase power generation and lower the cost of energy produced by the solar PV system.

The solar company says it addresses a broad range of energy market segments with its products, such as energy storage, electric vehicle charging, batteries, electric vehicle powertrains, and grid services solutions.

Since the start of the year, shares in SolarEdge plunged more than 70 percent, slashing its valuation to $4.7 billion as the solar company warned in October about “substantial unexpected cancellations” from European distributors amid weak demand for its solar inverters. On Nov. 1, the company reported weaker-than-expected third quarterly earnings, citing a slow market environment, which in turn resulted in high inventory of its products.

A facility outfitted with SolarEdge’s technology. Illustrative. (Screenshot/YouTube)

In the third quarter, SolarEdge reported a loss of $31 million versus a profit of $54.1 million in the same quarter last year. Revenues dropped 13% to $725.3 million from $836.7 million in the same quarter in 2022.

When SolarEdge joined S&P 500 in 2021, it had a market cap of $16 billion and was considered among the most valuable Israeli companies, alongside NICE Systems and cybersecurity giant Check Point Software Technologies.

In August this year, SolarEdge made headlines as it formed a joint venture with Saudi Arabia’s Ajlan & Bros Holding, a private-sector conglomerate based in Riyadh, to help advance the transition to solar energy adoption in the desert kingdom, which has no formal diplomatic ties with the Jewish nation.

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