I mentioned the upgrades in the post before. Now for the downgrades. Jefferies is out this morning cutting the entire sector and downgrading several solar companies due to the same concerns we’ve heard for many months… oversupply and lack of demand.
First Solar (FSLR) cut to Hold from Buy
SunPower (SPWRA) cut to Hold from Buy
Suntech Power (STP) cut to Underperform from Hold
Ascent Solar (ASTI) cut to Underperform from Hold
China Sunergy (CSUN) … Read the rest
Some positive analyst ratings are out this morning. Here’s the rundown:
Hat tip to StreetInsider.com for the analyst comments.
First Solar (FSLR) gets a Buy rating from Merriman Curhan. The firm says, “First Solar is a leading provider of thin film solar technology primarily serving the power utility market and continues to command cost leadership at $0.87/watt vs. its silicon-base solar peer group at $2.50/watt. Solar is rapidly becoming a critical alternative energy solution … Read the rest
Not sure how I missed this earlier today.. I may need to make the coffee a bit stronger tomorrow morning. Renesola (SOL) announced it has signed a letter of intent with Taiyangshan Development Zone in Wuzhong city to develop a 150MW on-grid solar project. The project is still subject to a feasibility study and government approval but I can’t image that’s going to be a problem. The deal is a big one with a budget … Read the rest
Lieberose Solar Farm, a solar farm now being built in Germany by juwi Group and First Solar Inc, just became the second-largest solar farm in the world, as the 560,000th solar panel was placed into installation by by German Infrastructure Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee and Brandenburg Minister President Matthias Platzeck. Once it’s finished, the project, which is being built on an old Soviet Army training site in Brandenburg, Germany, will produce 52 MW of power. … Read the rest
Deutsche Bank is out this morning maintaining its Hold rating on First Solar (FSLR) but has slashed the price target from $170 to $125. The firm believes the company is fairly valued at these levels.
Hat tip to StreetInsider.com for the following analyst comments:
“Recent pricing inputs from companies like Yingi (more substantial ASP declines) and less-than-hoped-for improvement in the demand picture for larger systems (due largely to financing availability) cause us to reassess our … Read the rest
Goldman Sachs is out giving Renesola (SOL) shares a boost by upgrading the stock from Neutral to Buy and adding it to its conviction buy list. Goldman likes Renesola’s cost structure and its exposure to the BRIC countries which the firm believes will be a source of big growth. Shares of SOL are trading up about 15% in premarket.
Suntech (STP) is out with earnings this morning and it’s not bad, not great. You kind of expected this company to emerge from the pack a bit and post a much better quarter, but it didn’t happen. The company reported another plunge in earnings and revenues when compared to the year ago quarter, but saw a bit of sequential growth so inline with what other solar companies are reporting.
STP reported .06/share which is better … Read the rest
Suntech just announced that is has a achieved a new world record for conversion efficiency in a multi-crystalline silicon PV module. Suntech’s Pluto PV cells powered with the module, which achieved 15.6% efficiency in tests that were independently confirmed by Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE in Germany.
In a press release, Dr. Stuart Wenham, Suntech’s Chief Technology Officer, explained the importance of the achievement:
“This is a tremendous result for Suntech and clearly … Read the rest
Yingli Green Energy (YGE) has posted better than expected results ahead of the bell this morning. The company is back to profitable on a non GAAP basis, reporting .14/share vs the estimates for .04/share. Revenues also topped expectations at $219.5 million vs the Wall St estimate of $213.5 million. That’s about in line with the quarter over quarter revenue decrease of last quarter, but sequentially the revenues are much better, which is a trend … Read the rest
First Solar (FSLR) has needed some good news and it some today on news it would partner with SoCo Edison on projects totaling 550MW. Several hours later it also announced a deal with the Los Angeles Dept Of Water & Power to build a solar project with a capacity of 55MW in Imperial County. Construction on this project is expected to begin next year and be completed in 2011, but still needs approval from the … Read the rest