Shares of China Sunergy (CSUN) popped this morning after the company posted earnings results that beat analyst estimates on the bottom line but didn’t live up to expectations on the top line.  The company reported an EPS of .37/share (vs analyst estimate of .33/share) on revenues of $170 million (vs analyst estimate for $175 million).  It looks like traders favored the improvement in margins and the beat on the EPS side, but by the end of the day much of the gain had evaporated.

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CEO Stephen Zhifang Cai commented on the quarter:

"Our strategic shift to in-house module manufacturing, following the acquisitions of CEEG (Shanghai) Solar Science & Technology Co., Ltd and CEEG (Nanjing) New Energy Co., Ltd., has already had a positive impact, as demonstrated by the continued momentum we saw through the fourth quarter that helped us end the year with solid results.  We believe the PV market is poised for growth, despite incentive program adjustments in Europe.  Demand there remains strong while emerging markets will continue to grow.   2011 will be another year of growth and progress for China Sunergy as we continue to focus on cell efficiency improvement, cost control, sales network expansion and further vertical integration.”

The company issued shipment guidance but no estimates on EPS or revenues for this quarter or the full year.  For Q1 the company expects to ship between 98MW – 110MW (about inline with the 98MW they shipped last quarter) and for the full year expects to ship between 670MW – 690MW (bit less than last year’s output).

Technically, shares of CSUN are relatively neutral and have been in a holding pattern for more than six months.  A convincing break above the $4.50 level would have me more bullish on shares of CSUN.