Forbes.com notes that the stock prices of major solar power companies like LDK and JA Solar Holdings fell yesterday, as the companies continue to face difficulties from reduced demand and lack of credit.
Here’s a roundup of the stocks they profiled in the article referenced above:
Castle & Cooke Hawaii and SunPower announced today that their new solar energy farm, the La Ola Solar Farm, is now producing solar energy on the Hawaiian island of Lana’i. Utilizing SunPower trackers, the new facility is capable of producing 1.2 MW of solar energy, enough to meet 30% of Lana’i’s electricity needs.
Here’s what Tom Werner, SunPower’s CEO, had to say about the event:
… Read the rest"Clean, reliable solar power will become a core energy investment
Many of the downgrades and earnings misses in the solar names over the past several months have come in part due to the strengthening dollar as much of the sales for these companies are denominated in Euros. Barron’s is reporting that Barclay’s Capital analyst Vishal Shah says First Solar (FSLR), SunPower (SPWRA/SPWRB) and the Chinese solar companies stand to benefit the most. A continued weakening of the dollar along with an Obama presidency certainly could … Read the rest
Wal-Mart and Sunpower announced the completion of Sunpower’s first solar power installation under its contract with Wal-Mart. The project, a 554-KW solar power system, will produce about 15% of the energy needed to power Wal-Mart’s Hanford, CA store.
Wal-Mart is purchasing solar power from Sunpower and other companies for 22 of its locations in California and Hawaii, reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 7,000 to 8,000 metric tons per year. As part of the … Read the rest
SunPower (SPWRA) announced early this morning a new contract with City Solar of Germany in which SPWRA will provide them with 100MW of solar panels along with commercial rooftop and ground mounted systems over the next 3 years.
Steffen Kammler, City Solar’s President and Chief Executive Officer, said, “With this deal, we can offer our commercial customers SunPower’s high-efficiency solar panels and patented rooftop and ground mounted tracking systems, which can significantly increase their energy … 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
SunPower (SPWRA) announced a new 130MW deal today and will supply Ecoware of Italy solar panels under a 4 year contract and begin delivering in the first quarter next year. Financials of the deal have not been disclosed.
The deal was a bright spot in an otherwise tough week for the company which last week cut its outlook and plunged more than 30% on euro weakness then hit was hit again today on a Deutsche … Read the rest
According to StreetInsider.com, Deutsche Bank is downgrading a few solars this morning from BUY to HOLD
– Canadian Solar (CSIQ) cut price target from $36 to $12
– Energy Conversion Devices (ENER) cut price target from $75 to $41
– First Solar (FSLR) cut price target from $200 to $160
– SunPower (SPWRA) cut price target $62 to $45
The first said, “As we assess 2009 we reiterate our view of (1) deteriorating fundamentals … Read the rest
Here are some analyst notes in the solar notes that came out during trading today:
* Piper Jaffray downgraded CSIQ from Buy to Neutral, lowered estimates and cut the price target from 30 to 11 on euro weakness and supply chain dislocation
* Piper Jaffray also cut the price target and lowered estimates on Yingli Green Energy (YGE) but maintained their Buy rating. Price target lowered from $26 to $15
* Piper Jaffray cut estimates … Read the rest
Sunpower (SPWRA) is off about 20% this morning after reducing its 4Q and 2009 earnings forecast due to currency fluctuations. The company indicated that due to changes in its global tax planning it has greater exposure to the euro which has been hit hard over the last couple months and will hit the company with a $17 million revenue loss in 4Q… Read the rest