Sunpower just announced that it will be partnering with Etrion to build 4 solar power plants in southern Italy. Altogether, the plants will provide 4MW of solar energy. Sunpower will handle design, construction, operations and maintenance on the plants, which will use its “Tracker” technology.
The companies plan to break ground on the new construction by the end of November, and the plants should be up and running by late 2010.
In a press release,… Read the rest
The good news keeps rolling in for American Superconductor (AMSC) with a couple new orders and upgrades in the last week or so, but the stock doesn’t seem to want to move much on the news. Perhaps today it can get going on an upgrade from Needham from Hold to Buy. The firm has a $40 price target on it.
Also getting an upgrade this morning is Suntech Power (STP) which was upgraded from Sell … Read the rest
Two pillars of the China solar industry, Trina Solar (TSL) and Suntech Power (STP) smashed the low expectations of analyst estimates this morning.
TSL reported a Q3 EPS of $1.29, versus the analyst estimate of $0.75. Revenue for the quarter was $249.7 million, much greater than the analyst estimate of $216.30 million. Shares are trading higher again this morning, up about 4%.
Suntech (STP) reported Q3 EPS of $0.16, 9 cents better than the analyst … Read the rest
Before the closing bell yesterday, Kaufman Bros reiterated its Buy rating on Sunpower (SPWRA) despite the accounting issues weighing on the stock. You have to admire Kaufman’s conviction when every other analyst immediately issued sell ratings. I think it’s too soon to be jumping in to SPWRA, but once this blows over, it could offer one heck of a long term entry point.
Here are the analyst notes courtesy of StreetInsider.com
“SunPower announces accounting irregularities … Read the rest
Solarfun Power (SOLF) got back in the black in a big way, reporting a Q3 EPS of $0.37 this morning, smashing analyst estimates of just .14/share. Revenues were down over the year ago quarter but continue to improve sequentially at $144 million.
The company reported better diversity in the quarter with the new Czech solar market contributing 8% of shipments, but the company is still concentrated in Germany with 60% of its shipments there. That’s … Read the rest
China Sunergy (CSUN) posted a big gain for the 3rd quarter, but all of that was in currency fluctuation gains. On an adjusted basis the company actually reported a loss of .03/share vs the analyst estimate of a .02/share gain. Revenues came in above analyst estimates at $80 million, but that was 33% lower than the year ago quarter. The stock is likely rallying on the company forecast for next quarter which calls for strong … Read the rest
LDK Solar announced yesterday that it has sold a 15% ownership stake in its Xinyu City, China plant for $219 million. The stake was purchased by Jiangxi International Trust and Investment Co., Ltd.
In a press release, Xiaofeng Peng, Chairman and CEO of LDK Solar, commented on the sale
“We are very pleased with the continued support of our business from local financial institutions, as evidenced by this recent development. Jiangxi International Trust and … Read the rest
Canadian Solar (CSIQ) reported a strong Q3 EPS this morning of $0.69 which was .14/share better than analyst estimates and a more than 50% increase over the year ago quarter. It’s also a new record for the company. Revenues were below the year ago quarter by about 15% at $213 million, but was better than what analysts expected.
The CEO said European demand remains strong and contributed greatly to the success in the quarter with … Read the rest
Last night it was announced that Sunpower was investigating some accounting errors at its Philippine operations and this morning the downgrades are flowing.
Piper Jaffray downgraded from Overweight to Neutral and lowered the price target from $38 to $31.
Hat tip to StreetInsider.com for the analyst comments:
“SPWR announced accounting errors that may have underestimated costs in its Philippine manufacturing plant for both 2009 and 2008. The magnitude of the COGS understatement could be $14M … Read the rest
SunPower (SPWRA) said after the bell today that it’s investigating accounting errors related to its Philippine manufacturing operations and that its financial statements for 2008/2009 as well as guidance for this year can’t be relied on. The company hopes to provide an update within the next 30 days, but estimates that about 1 million in expenses were overstated in Q1, $14 million understated in Q2 and 2 million understated in Q3. Those aren’t huge numbers, … Read the rest