The best of breed solar companies continue to post strong results, but major headwinds will most likely come in the first half of this year.  GT Solar (SOLR) posted outstanding results after the bell today, beating analyst EPS estimates by .06 with an EPS of .30/share.  That compares with a .03 loss in the year ago quarter.  Revenues soared over the year ago quarter as well coming in at 205.2 million vs just 14.7 million in the year ago quarter. 

“Our third quarter results reflect the resilience of our business model with strong revenue performance, excellent operating and gross margins, and solid profitability” said Tom Zarrella, GT Solar’s president and chief executive officer. “While we have seen an impact on some of our customers, whose ability to grow in the near term has been affected by the economic downturn, we continue to experience growth with a number of customers in both segments of our business. We are also encouraged by recent new customer additions, particularly by the interest we are seeing from new well-capitalized entrants in the solar industry.

Guidance for next quarter and FY09 are a bit light with revenue projections of $140 – 170 vs the consensus of $200 million for next quarter and full year projections in the range of $540 – 570 vs expectations of $592. 

The stock is surging 12% in after hours trading and will gap up off support of the 50 day moving average creating what could be a technical breakout.