Canadian Solar (CSIQ) reported results before the bell this morning and the results were much better than expected when you take out one time losses due to forex losses and internal audits.  On a non GAAP basis, the company reported an EPS of .40/share on revenues of $328.7 million.  That’s significantly ahead of the analyst estimates of an EPS at .15 and revenue at $306 million.  The results were much better than the headlines would have you believe and the non GAAP number indicates the organic growth is sound.  While the EPS number came in 20% lower than the year ago period, revenues increased 188%.  It will be interesting to see how traders react to these numbers in the coming days.  Today, the stock is down about 2%.

===> Click Here For Your FREE Daily Canadian Solar Technical Analysis

Here are some highlights of comments made by CEO Shawn Qu:

- demand and pricing remained strong and that’s expected for rest of year
- Q2 shipments above prior guidance
- reduction of 3rd party solar cell purchases increasing margins and they expect that to continue by reducing 3rd party purchases 15% this quarter and another 40% in Q4.
- expects module pricing to remain stable through rest of year
- cell conversion efficiency exceeding 18%
- expects solar system business to begin contributing meaningful income in Q4

Looking ahead, the company expects shipments between 190 – 200MW this quarter and gross margins of 14.5 – 15.5%.  For the full year, the company is reiterating shipment guidance of 700 – 800MW.  On the capacity side, they expect to expand cell manufacturing to 800MW by the end of this quarter and to 1.3GW by early next year.

JMP Securities is bullish on a few green stocks due to an expected increase in electricity demand which the firm sees sparking increased efforts to develop alternative energy solutions.  They see good value in demand response players EnerNOC (ENOC) and Comverge (COMV) as well as US solar company Sunpower (SPWRA) and have an Outperform rating on all three.

===> Click Here For Your FREE Daily Sunpower (SPWRA) Technical Analysis

Analysts have weighed in on Itron (ITRI) following yesterday’s smart grid collaboration announcement with Cisco.

Piper Jaffray is Neutral on Itron (ITRI).  Piper notes that while an IP platform was expected, the fact that it’s partnering with Cisco is a significant positive.  However, utility risk aversion will likely diminish the positive impact for Itron in the near term and so they maintain their Neutral rating and $65 price target.

On the other hand, Jefferies sees major upside potential in shares of ITRI because of the Cisco partnership.  They have a Buy rating and $78 price which is more than 30% higher than current levels.

Canaccord also has a Buy rating on Itron (ITRI) following the Cisco deal and says it significantly improves the effort to commercialize and support IP smart grids. Their price target is $80.

===> Click Here For Your FREE Daily Itron Technical Analysis

Auriga issued a research report this morning on Canadian Solar (CSIQ) heading into its earnings report tomorrow. While the firm has an upside bias, it doesn’t have enough conviction either way to make a definitive call so maintains its Hold rating with a $13 price target.  Cmon Mark, go out on a limb!  

===> Click Here For Your FREE Daily Canadian Solar Technical Analysis

They see CSIQ missing Q2 EPS estimates with shipments coming in at 175MW, revenue at $300 million and believe EPS will come in .10 lower than the consensus estimate of .19/share.

While Auriga has already incorporated into its model the reiterated shipment guidance and increased manufacturing capacity, they feel management could surprise by indicating improving margins in the 2nd half of the year.  During the last update on Aug 19, CSIQ management indicated that margins “may” improve.

Canadian Solar recently reported their delayed Q1 results and will report Q2 results tomorrow morning before the bell.

LDK Solar (LDK) announced this morning that it has filed an objection for arbitration before the China Intl Econ & Trade Arbitration Commission as well as a lawsuit to demand compensation from Canadian Solar (CSIQ) due to a breach of a 10 year supply agreement signed in 2008.  Despite the news, shares of CSIQ are up nearly 3% today and trying to push above resistance of the 50 day moving average.

===> Click Here For Your FREE Daily Canadian Solar Technical Analysis

Itron (ITRI) and Cisco (CSCO) have announced an alliance this morning to help advance the smart grid.  The two will work on developing a next generation, open and interoperable, [...] Continue Reading…

Kaufman Bros. has initiated overage of the big 3 LED stocks this morning according to Barrons. Cree Inc (CREE) was initiated at Hold with a $58 price target.  They [...] Continue Reading…

I believe a healthy breakout in First Solar (FSLR) is on the way, but it’s difficult to say at this point which way it’s going to break. That’s [...] Continue Reading…

Energy Focus (EFOI) just announced a few minutes ago that it has received $410K in funding from the Department of Defense for the advancement of LED applications. ===> Click [...] Continue Reading…

Jefferies is out reiterating its Buy rating on shares of Yingli Green Energy (YGE) and has a $17 price target (more than 60% higher than current levels).  The firm [...] Continue Reading…

Energy Conversion Devices (ENER) reported results this morning that were better than analyst expectations, but the company remains deep in the red.  The company reported a non GAAP EPS [...] Continue Reading…