According to Barrons, Wedge Partners was out with a research note this morning saying that the China based solar companies are slowing production in anticipation of falling demand and prices.
Some highlights:
– Suntech (STP) is laying off about 10% of its employees, idled half its production lines and shelved plans to expand to 1.2GW by the end of the year
– JA Solar (JASO) is seeing customer orders down drastically and half of its … Read the rest
24/7WallStreet.com notes that Credit Suisse has lowered price targets on several major solar stocks. Apparently, with the economic downturn, shares just aren’t selling for as much as the used to, and the price targets were adjusted to reflect the new economic reality. According to the article, they may be starting a trend, as we can expect other brokerage firms to start taking similar actions. Here’s a quick rundown of the affected companies:
… Read the restJA Solar Holdings
Goldman Sachs is out this morning with several calls on solar stocks:
Upgrades
* Upgraded Applied Materials (AMAT) from Sell to Buy and added to their Conviction Buy List
* Upgrades Yingli Green Energy (YGE) from Neutral to Buy but cut price target from $20 to $9
* Upgrades Trina Solar (TSL) from Sell to Neutral but cuts price target from $24 to $12
Maintain
* Maintains Buy rating on Suntech Power (STP) but cuts … Read the rest
Some solar analyst ratings are out this morning with Friedman Billings upgrading both First Solar (FSLR) and SunPower (SPWRA) to Market Perform and price targets of $210 and $65, respectively.
JA Solar (JASO) wasn’t so fortunate, getting a downgrade from Canaccord Adams from Buy to Hold. The stock is off nearly 18% today with heavy volume, erasing yesterday’s move an then some.
Let’s not forget though that it was Canaccord Adams that initiated coverage with … Read the rest
With all the concerns being voiced about the possible impact of the credit crisis on the solar power market, it’s nice to have some good news to report. The stock market as a whole rallied a little bit yesterday, but according to Eric Savitz of Barron’s Tech Trader Daily, solar stocks in particular were "dramatically outperforming" the market as a whole. Many of the major solar players saw their share prices rise with double-digit … Read the rest
According to StreetInsider.com, Piper Jaffray analyst Jesse Pichel has commented on the solar stocks that are related to the Lehman bankruptcy, saying that Sunpower (SPWR), JA Solar (JASO) and Evergreen Solar (ESLR) are negatively affected with respect to prior convertible bond transactions and stock lending agreements. The firm said it would be prudent to assume the worst.
On JASO: “We estimate JASO would realize ~4% dilution on stock and incur a non-cash write off … Read the rest
Shares of both Evergreen Solar and JA Solar have experienced significant loss in value over the past couple of days due to their dealings with now-bankrupt investment banking giant Lehman Brothers. In June, Evergreen Solar lent Lehman Brothers 30,856,538 shares for hedging transactions, and buyers are afraid that Evergreen won’t get the money back for those shares. Prices dropped by $1.70/share yesterday, down to $4.60.
Michael El-Hillow, Chief Financial Officer, released the following statement… Read the rest
JA Solar (JASO) certainly didn’t report the blow out results that LDK Solar did but nonetheless it was a decent quarter, albeit a bit below what analysts had been expecting on the EPS side. The company reported an EPS of .14/share, about double the year ago result. Revenues were triple from the year ago and a bit higher than what analysts had been expecting at 180.3 million. The company issued strong guidance for 08 and … Read the rest
According to the StreetInsider.com Canaccord Adams initiated both JA Solar (JASO) and Canadian Solar (CSIQ) with buy ratings this morning.
On JASO:
“We are initiating coverage on JA Solar with a BUY rating and $19 price target as we believe that it will continue to benefit from its leading position in the silicon solar cell market and from its low-cost strategy.”
On CSIQ:
“Given the likelihood for raised expectations, the near-term benefit of UMG access, … Read the rest