Enphase Energy shares rose sharply on Thursday after Barclays upgraded the solar technology company, citing its potential entry into the rapidly expanding artificial intelligence data center market.
Investor sentiment was also supported by the company’s launch of a new commercial microinverter product in the United States.
ENPH tock gained about 8% in trading, snapping a four-day losing streak.
Despite recent gains, the shares remain volatile, falling roughly 19% this month after surging more than 100% in May.
Enphase shares are still up more than 60% this year and have gained over 80% during the past 12 months.
Barclays sees data center opportunity in solid-state transformers
Barclays analyst Christine Cho upgraded Enphase to Equal Weight from Underweight and raised her price target on the shares to $51 from $30.
The upgrade was driven by Enphase’s efforts to develop solid-state transformers, a technology Barclays believes could become increasingly important in AI data centers as computing demands continue to rise.
Cho said Enphase’s transformer initiative represents a “credible” entry into data centers.
She added that solid-state transformers “are expected to become a core component” in data centers as hyperscalers move toward higher rack densities to support artificial intelligence workloads.
Barclays estimates the total addressable market for solid-state transformers at approximately $2 billion and expects Enphase to continue increasing its share of that market.
However, the firm does not expect the business to materially contribute to the company’s financial performance until 2028.
Interest in solid-state transformers has grown significantly over the past year because of their ability to convert electricity between different voltage levels more efficiently.
Enphase remains in the development stage of its transformer technology, while companies across the technology sector continue investing heavily in AI infrastructure.
Company begins shipping new commercial microinverters
Separately, Enphase announced that it has begun production shipments of its IQ9S-3P Commercial Microinverter in the United States.
The new microinverter supports solar panels with capacities of up to 770 watts and can connect directly to three-phase 480Y/277-volt grid configurations without requiring external transformers.
The product uses gallium nitride technology and supports 18 amperes of continuous direct current while delivering up to 548 volt-amperes of continuous output power.
The microinverter is designed to meet UL 1741-SB and IEEE 1547-2018 grid compliance standards and includes features such as rapid shutdown, phase balancing, voltage and frequency ride-through, and loss-of-phase detection.
Enphase said safe harbor orders for the IQ9S-3P Commercial Microinverter will remain open until July 4, 2026, allowing customers to secure equipment ahead of federal tax credit deadlines.
Domestic manufacturing and long-term growth initiatives
The company said units manufactured in the United States with domestic content may qualify as FEOC-compliant and could help eligible projects receive domestic content bonus tax credits, subject to project-specific requirements and applicable laws.
The products also comply with Buy America Act standards for federal direct procurement contracts.
The IQ9S-3P Commercial Microinverter connects to the company’s IQ Gateway Commercial Pro system for real-time monitoring, energy management, and remote firmware updates.
The microinverter carries a 25-year limited warranty, while the gateway comes with a 15-year limited warranty.
Based in Fremont, California, Enphase manufactures microinverter-based solar and battery systems and said it has shipped approximately 87.8 million microinverters globally.
The company currently has a market value of about $6.3 billion.
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