First Solar just announced that it has signed a contract with Southern California Edison regarding the construction of 2 solar power projects in Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Together, the projects will generate 550 MW of solar energy. When complete, they will produce 1.2 billion kilowatt-hours of renewable electricity each year. As long as the projects are approved by the California Public Utilities Commission, construction is set to begin on the 250 megawatt Desert Sunlight … Read the rest
Category Archives: Solar Energy
Wedbush Morgan Defends First Solar Too; "Negative Barrons Article Unwarranted"
Last night I posted about Jefferies analyst Paul Clegg defending First Solar (FSLR) following the negative piece on the company in Barrons. This morning, Wedbush Morgan is out defending the company as well, assuming coverage at an Outperform with a price target of $190.
Hat tip to StreetInsider.com for the following analyst comment:
“Negative article in Barron’s is unwarranted, in our opinion. Investor concerns over the rebate program in Germany are overdone. in our opinion. … Read the rest
Solarfun (SOLF) Up Premarket After Beating Estimates; "Demand Appears To Be Improving"
Solarfun (SOLF) is trading up about 5% premarket after beating both on EPS and revenues. The company posted a non GAAP EPS of .08/share vs the analyst estimate of a .04/share loss. Revenues also came in better than expected (about $8 million higher) at $125 million. Those numbers are still way off from the year ago quarter but a significant improvement sequentially, indicating that the financial bottom may be in for Solarfun.
Highlights
– PV … Read the rest
Jefferies Analyst Defends First Solar (FSLR) Following Negative Barrons Article
Over the weekend, Barron’s wrote up a piece on First Solar (FSLR) highlighting the company’s negative free cash flow and goes so far as to say the revenue beat was a figment of bookkeeping for a project in Berlin in which the company recognized $84 in revenue. The author also questions the OptiSolar transaction and the way the company booked the value of a PG&E contract. All in all, it didn’t help the stock much … Read the rest
Trina Solar (TSL) Beats On EPS, Says "Market Confidence Returning To PV Sector"
Trina Solar (TSL) is trading a bit higher after the bell today after the company beat EPS estimates on revenues that were about inline. Taking out one time write offs and gains, the company reported an EPS of .42/share which beat analyst estimates of .32/share but represents a significant hair cut from the year ago quarter when it posted 1.01/share. Still, it’s an improvement over last quarter’s .33/share. Revenues came in at $150 million which … Read the rest
Hoku Materials’ (HOKU) Idaho Plant Granted Foreign Trade Zone Status
Hoku Materials just announced that its Pocatello, Idaho plant has been granted foreign trade zone status. This news means that Hoku will be except from paying duties on all supplies it imports from other countries, as long as the products produced are intended for export. Since approximately 80% of Hoku’s expected polysilicon capacity has already been sold to Chinese companies, at least 80% of its raw materials should be duty-free.
In a press release, … Read the rest
Suntech Power (STP) Expanding Sales Channels In Japan
According to JLM Pacific Epoch, Suntech Power’s (STP) Japan subsidiary, Suntech Japan, announced that the consumer electronics chain Yamada Denki plans to increase its sales network for Suntech products from 50 to around 450 stores… Read the rest
Suntech Products (STP) To Be Available in More Stores In Japan
According to JLM Pacific Epoch, Suntech products will soon be available in more stores in Japan. Yamada Denki, a Japanese retail store that distributes Suntech products, is expected to expand the number of its locations that carry Suntech products from 50 to 450. This should help Suntech meet its goal of expanding to take 10% of the Japanese market in 2009. … Read the rest
Shares of GT Solar (SOLR) Pressured On Shelf Registration To Sell 106 Million Shares
Shares of GT Solar (SOLR) are down about 3% in premarket trading on news that the company filed a shelf registration on behalf of GT Solar Holdings LLC which allows the company to offer 106 million shares for sale. The amounts and prices will be provided in future SEC filings at the time of the offering.… Read the rest
Renesola (SOL) Gets Piper Downgrade, Credit Suisse Upgrade
Surprisingly, Credit Suisse is out upgrading Renesola (SOL) from Neutral to Outperform despite a tough quarter for the company. Piper Jaffray is downgrading SOL from Neutral to Underweight and lowering the price target from $6 to $4.50.
Hat tip to StreetInsider for the following analyst comment from Piper:
“We believe Renesola is making the right moves by vertically integrating downstream to cells/modules. Failure to integrate downstream, in our opinion, would result in anemic margin and … Read the rest