Enphase Shares Jump on AI Data-Center Opportunity, New Product

Enphase Energy shares rose about 8% on Thursday after Barclays upgraded the stock and the company began U.S. production shipments of the IQ9S-3P commercial microinverter. The move snapped a four-day losing streak and pushed the company’s market value to roughly $6.3 billion.

Barclays analyst Christine Cho raised the rating to Equal Weight from Underweight and lifted the price target to $51 from $30. Cho called Enphase’s transformer initiative a “credible” entry into data centers. Barclays pointed to the company’s work on solid-state transformers and estimated the addressable market at about $2 billion, while noting the unit is not expected to materially affect Enphase’s results until 2028.

Enphase remains in development on its solid-state transformer technology. Solid-state transformers convert electricity between different voltage levels more efficiently, a capability that attracts interest as data centers increase power density to support AI computing.

The IQ9S-3P commercial microinverter entered U.S. production shipments this week. The device supports solar panels up to 770 watts and connects directly to three-phase 480Y/277-volt grid systems without external transformers. It uses gallium nitride technology, supports 18 amperes of continuous direct current and delivers up to 548 volt-amperes of continuous output.

The microinverter meets UL 1741-SB and IEEE 1547-2018 grid standards and includes rapid shutdown, phase balancing, voltage and frequency ride-through, and loss-of-phase detection. Safe-harbor orders will remain open until July 4, 2026, allowing customers to secure equipment ahead of federal tax-credit deadlines.

Units manufactured in the United States with sufficient domestic content may qualify as FEOC-compliant and could help projects claim domestic content bonus tax credits, subject to project requirements and applicable law. The product also meets Buy America Act standards for federal direct procurement contracts.

The IQ9S-3P pairs with Enphase’s IQ Gateway Commercial Pro for real-time monitoring, energy management and remote firmware updates. The microinverter carries a 25-year limited warranty and the gateway a 15-year limited warranty.

Enphase, based in Fremont, California, manufactures microinverter-based solar and battery systems and reported it has shipped about 87.8 million microinverters globally. The stock has been volatile recently, falling about 19% this month after a more than 100% rally in May; shares remain up over 60% year-to-date and more than 80% over the past 12 months.