What happened
Shares in composite wind blade manufacturer TPI Composites (TPIC) rose 10.9% in the week to Thursday noontime. The move needs to be put in the context of recent events, not least of which is Siemens Energy's announcement that it was withdrawing its full-year guidance due to increased failure rates of wind turbine components at its wind power business, Siemens Gamesa. Management is conducting an extended review to estimate the potential financial impact of the quality issues, which are believed to center on bearings and rotor blades.
Since the announcement, Siemens Energy's stock is down 32.5%, and despite the rise over the last week, TPI Composites is down 6% over the same time frame. The latter's stock fell in sympathy with the troubles at Siemens Energy, but both rose this week as investors started to digest the newsflow properly.
So what
Suppliers are believed to be a part of the review. That's a concern for TPI Composite shareholders because Siemens Gamesa contributed 10% of its revenue as recently as 2020.
That said, digging into the company's 10-K filings at the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), Siemens Gamesa wasn't listed as a customer at the end of 2021, and also at the end of 2022.
According to the company's most recent presentation, its primary customers are Nordex, Vestas, and General Electric.
Image source: Getty Images.
Now what
It's hard to know what the impact, if any, on TPI Composites will be from the fallout of Siemens Energy's review. Indeed, investors took a brighter view this week because Siemens Gamesa hasn't been a significant customer for a few years now.
