Yesterday Piper was out with a downgrade of GT Solar (SOLR) from Buy to Neutral after the company reported awful earnings results, saying they are moving to the sidelines until the solar industry recovers.
Piper analyst says, “Although SOLR remains well positioned for an eventual unit recovery, is achieving promising R&D developments for next-gen equipment, and has a strong balance sheet, we believe shares of SOLR will be capped at current levels until a … Read the rest
GT Solar (SOLR) has been a solar superstar over the past several months with its stock soaring from just $1.55 last November to a high of around 9 just a few days ago. That kind of run isn’t sustainable and the stock was long overdue for a pull back. It’s been pulling back over the past week and tomorrow morning will test the 50 day moving average around 6 after reporting earnings after the bell … Read the rest
First Solar (FSLR) and GT Solar (SOLR) are what I’d call solar opposites, technically speaking. One appears headed for a retest of the lows while the other appears ready to break out and continue moving higher.
First Solar (FSLR) reported great earnings last night but it was their cautious outlook that sent the stock into the cellar today. I really thought that it would recover quickly off the morning gap down, but it just couldn’t … Read the rest
The best of breed solar companies continue to post strong results, but major headwinds will most likely come in the first half of this year. GT Solar (SOLR) posted outstanding results after the bell today, beating analyst EPS estimates by .06 with an EPS of .30/share. That compares with a .03 loss in the year ago quarter. Revenues soared over the year ago quarter as well coming in at 205.2 million vs just 14.7 million … Read the rest
According to StreetInsider.com, Piper Jaffray is out cutting estimates on the solar sector due to poor visibility. Piper analyst Jesse Pichel lowered industry estimates for the 1st half of 09 and downgraded their rating of Canadian Solar (CSIQ) to Sell and ReneSola (SOL) to Neutral due to low order visibility for Q1 in Germany and zero visibility in other markets but expects some recovery in late spring, early summer but only if credit markets … Read the rest
GT Solar International announced on Friday that it will lay off 25 workers from its Merrimack solar furnace operations. No further layoffs have been announced at this time, and GT Solar states that there is still strong enough demand for its polysilicon reactors to maintain current employment levels in its other locations. The 25 workers who were cut due to a slowdown in directional solidification system (DSS) furnace production rates. Due to the economic crisis, … Read the rest
Here’s a rundown of today’s analyst notes on several solar names according to StreetInsider.com
Downgrades
– Raymond James downgrades Suntech Power (STP) from Strong Buy to Outperform and has price target of $15
– FBR downgrades GT Solar (SOLR) from Outperform to Market Perform
– Credit Suisse downgrades JA Solar (JASO) from Outperform to Neutral
– Wedbush Morgan downgrades SunPower (SPWRA) from Strong Buy to Buy and slashed the price target from $100 to $32. … Read the rest
GT Solar International, Inc announced the appointment of an 8th member of their board of directors today: Noel G. Watson, the Chairman of Jacobs Engineering Group. Mr. Watson has been with Jacobs Engineering group for four decades. He started as a process engineer, and has worked his way up from there.
J. Bradford Forth, GT Solar’s Chairman, commented on what the appointment will bring to his company:
… Read the rest“Noel brings a vast amount of knowledge
GT Solar (SOLR) reported great results again after the bell today, beating analyst EPS estimates by 5 cents a share, reporting .19/share (good for a 110% increase over the year ago quarter). Revenues came in much better than expectations as well at 140.2 million, good for an 84% increase over the year ago quarter. 2008 is expected to be the first profitable year in company history and 2009 is expected to be even better with … Read the rest
According to StreetInsider.com UBS is downgrading the following:
– Sunpower (SPWRA) downgraded from Neutral to Sell (down
– Evergreen Solar (ESLR) downgraded from Buy to Neutral and $2.60 price target
– GT Solar (SOLR) downgraded from Buy to Neutral and $4.25 price target
– Energy Conversion Devices (ENER) from Buy to Neutral and $31 price target
Despite the downgrades, all solar names are up premarket with the overall market.… Read the rest