Lots of analyst reaction to First Solar (FSLR) earnings last night. Here’s the run down with a hat tip to Street Insider for the analyst commentary.
Buy Ratings
Brigantine Advisors reiterates its Buy rating and raises the price target from $144 to $150.
“Investor sentiment in the solar sector has been weak for much of this year, and we think the strong report from First Solar will go a long way to allay most concerns. … Read the rest
You kind of expected that with Akeena Solar (AKNS) solar product being sold in Lowe’s stores, that might give the company a boost and get them closer to profitability, but it hasn’t helped much at all up to this point. This is a company that continues to flounder and profitability still appears a long ways off. The company reported an EPS loss of .09/share which was a cent worse than what analysts expected and about … Read the rest
BorgWarner just announced that it is raising its guidance for earnings in 2010 from $1.40 to $1.70 per share to $2.20 to $2.50 per share. Currently, the consensus estimate for 2010 is $1.77 per share.… Read the rest
Deutsche Bank is out with Buy ratings this morning after First Solar (FSLR) and Itron (ITRI) reported strong earnings results last night.
They have upgraded First Solar (FSLR) to Buy and raised the price target from $125 to $155. “The company has demonstrated great flexibility with its business, and has built a captive project pipeline that can insulate the company should individual markets wither, or module ASPs come under great pressure.”
===> Click Here For … Read the rest
After last quarter’s earnings report I declared that Itron (ITRI) had finally turned the corner and after another quarter of smashing estimates it appears they’re turning that corner up on two wheels, smoke billowing out the back. The company smashed EPS and revenue estimates after the bell today posting a non GAAP EPS of $1.01 (really .75/share if you take out .26/share tax benefit) on revenues of $499 million. That’s still way ahead of the … Read the rest
I thought I’d go back and issue a winners and losers report for the analyst calls heading into earnings on First Solar. Soleil stands alone in its own “Lacking Balls” category.
Winners
Kudos to Kaufman Bros for the good call back in March when they called First Solar “the preeminent stock in the solar space” which should represent a “core holding for investors.” They reinstated the Buy rating and slapped a $140 price target on … Read the rest
First Solar (FSLR) is a company that many like to bash and bet against, but the company continues to deliver and they did so again after the bell today, keeping their long history of quarter over quarter growth alive (just barely). The company smashed the analyst estimate of $1.65/share by posting $2.00/share which also beats the whisper number of $1.87. That $2.00 EPS is about what they reported a year ago, so quarter over … Read the rest
First Solar (FSLR) has announced that it’s entered into a definitive agreement to purchase NextLight Renewable Power which expands its utility scale solar presence in the southwest, by adding a 1100MW solar power project pipeline. 570MW of that is under signed purchase power agreements which bring FSLR’s contracted solar power pipeline to 2200MW while 530MW is in various stages of development. The $285 million all cash deal is expected to be completed in the 3rd … Read the rest
FPL Group (FPL) reported results that were about flat over the year ago quarter. They beat on the EPS side by .07, reporting .94/share, but revenues were a bit lighter than what analysts expected at $3.58 billion. All in all, a ho hum quarter and traders are selling the stock a bit today after the stock ran up over 10% in the past two months. Increased demand for electricity at Florida Power & Light due … Read the rest
Both Deutsche Bank and Canaccord Adams are reiterating their Buy rating on Itron (ITRI) ahead of earnings after the bell tomorrow. Both raised the price target from $80 to $85.
Deutsche believes Itron’s Q1 results will exceed expectations and that “improving macro trends were only partially offset by FX (3% Q/Q) and Cu headwinds.”
Canaccord said, “In short, Itron is beginning to benefit from much better OpenWay capacity utilization, as customers look to notably accelerate … Read the rest