SolarEdge Technologies Inc. on Sunday said it will lay off about 16% of its workforce, about 900 employees, as part of a restructuring to slash operating costs.
“We have made a very difficult, but necessary decision to implement a workforce reduction and other cost-cutting measures in order to align our cost structure with the rapidly changing market dynamics,” Chief Executive Zvi Lando said in a statement.
SolarEdge said about 500 of the layoffs will occur at its manufacturing sites. The Israel-based solar-power company had previously ended its manufacturing in Mexico, reduced its manufacturing capacity in China and abandoned plans to build a light commercial vehicle.
SolarEdge said it will provide further details of its restructuring in its upcoming earnings release, which is expected by the end of February.
SolarEdge shares
SEDG,
-0.23%
have plunged 77% over the past 12 months, and in November the company swung to a surprise third-quarter loss, citing a slowdown in solar installations. At the time, it also forecast sharply lower sales in its current quarter.
Solar stocks have been battered over the past year, as solar-panel companies face weaker demand amid high interest rates. SunRun Inc.
RUN,
-0.30%
is down about 50% over the past 12 months, while Enphase Energy Inc.
ENPH,
-2.88%
is off 53% and SunPower Corp.
SPWR,
+3.06%
has sunk 81%.