SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWR) reported fourth-quarter and full-year 2012 results after the markets closed today.

Quarterly adjusted earnings per share (EPS) were $0.18 on revenues of $678.5 million. In the second quarter of 2011, the solar panel maker reported EPS of $0.04 on revenues of $625.3 million. The Thomson Reuters estimates called for EPS of $0.15 and $768.27 million in revenue.

On a GAAP basis, SunPower reported a quarterly EPS loss of $1.22. Adjusted earnings excluded charges, expenses, and adjustments totalling about $179.3 million.

For the full year, SunPower reported EPS of $0.18 on revenues of $2.42 billion compared with prior year EPS of $0.16 on $2.37 billion in revenues. The consensus estimate called for EPS of $0.15 on revenues of $2.6 billion.

The company’s CEO said:

North America remained our most significant market for the quarter as evidenced by our sale of the 579 megawatt (MW) Antelope Valley Solar Projects (AVSP) to MidAmerican Solar, a transaction that further reinforces our strong bankability. … In Asia, we expanded our presence in the Japanese rooftop market as a result of our significant partnerships and signed a joint venture in China to manufacture our SunPower C7 Tracker product for power plant projects. In Europe, industry conditions remain challenging but our cost reduction programs and ability to leverage our existing infrastructure to further evolve our go-to-market strategy with innovative programs will enable us to return to profitability in this region in the second half of 2013.

There have been some signs of life recently in the solar sector, with First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) recently getting an upgrade to buy and China promising to spend more on new solar installations. But 2012 was another tough year for solar makers, with most losing between 22% and 75% of their value in the past 12 months. SunPower managed to eke out a gain of nearly 6% in the same time span.

For the first quarter, SunPower expects to post adjusted EPS of $0.05 to $0.20 on revenues of $475 to $500 million. The consensus estimate calls for an EPS loss of $0.11 on revenues of $544.26 million. For the full year, the consensus estimates call for EPS of $0.14 on revenues of $2.59 billion.

After closing up 0.5% at $8.41 against a 52-week trading range of $3.71 to $9.54, shares have dropped 1.3% to $8.30 in after-hours trading. Thomson Reuters had a consensus analyst price target of around $6.15 before today’s report.

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