A couple analyst ratings notes in the solar space this morning.
Needham reiterated its Buy rating on Applied Materials (AMAT) and price target of $18 following its earnings report last night. “AMAT F2Q10 (Apr) results beat expectation and guidance was above consensus. We believe the report was largely inline with buy-side expectations. We are encouraged by the company’s decision to take further steps to scale back SunFab, but we are a bit disappointed by the … Read the rest
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
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
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
I mentioned the Oppenheimer upgrade of Suntech Power (STP) this morning on Green Stocks @Twitter, but the firm has rating and price target updates on other solar stocks as well. Hat tip to Street Insider for the heads up.
Bullish on Yingli Green Energy (YGE) and gets upgrade from Outperform to Perform and $17 price target (about 30% higher). Want more YGE analysis?
Downgrades Canadian Solar (CSIQ) from Outperform to Perform and lowered and … Read the rest
Bronte Capital issued a report on why it’s short First Solar (FSLR) which by the way recently broke through a nearly one year down trend and cleared the 200 day moving average. From a technical standpoint, it’s looking increasingly bullish, so the bearish case from Bronte is all the more interesting. Of course, if the market falls off a cliff from these levels (and the Goldman Sachs (GS) news may make that a reality), then … Read the rest
Solar analyst Mark Bachman of Auriga USA (formerly of Pacific Crest) initiated coverage of several solar stocks after the bell today. Hat tip to Street Insider for the following analyst comments:
Trina Solar (TSL) initiated at Buy with $34 price target (about 30% above current levels). More TSL analysis here
“We initiate coverage of Trina Solar with a Buy rating as the most under appreciated Chinese solar company we follow. While the stock is up … Read the rest
A few noteworthy analysts comments and rating changes in the solar space today…
Soleil Securities reiterated its Sell rating on First Solar (FSLR) but back pedaled a bit saying they are raising their estimates and wouldn’t be short heading into earnings. They still have a sub $100 price target. How’s that for conviction. Shares of FSLR were initially positive this morning, but are now trading down fractionally. Get your FSLR Trend Analysis.
Morgan Stanley … Read the rest