Suntech Power reported its 3rd quarter results this morning. Although the company’s results do show continued growth, they were well below what analysts had expected to see. For example, Suntech reported revenues of $594.4 million. Although this was an increase of 53.7% from last year, it was still below analysts predictions of $571.7 million. Earnings came in at .35/share, excluding one-time items. Analysts had expected to see earnings of $.42/share.
Due to the … Read the rest
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
Collins Stewart analyst Dan Ries . Ries gave the following reasons for the downgrade:
… Read the restRies notes that the credit crisis has lead to increased borrowing costs for solar projects, putting pressure on solar module prices. Also hurting: a 13% drop in the Euro against the dollar since July. Ries also notes that the stock has been trading at about 9.6x estimated FY ‘09 EPS, a premium to the 3-5x ‘09 multiples carried by most of
Despite the solar stocks being pummeled into oblivion for the entire year and accelerating those losses in the past few weeks, analysts continue with the negative outlooks and sell ratings. Let’s keep in mind though that analysts are almost always late to the party and that may be the case in this situation as well. With solar stocks being the biggest beneficiary of the extension of tax credits in the recent bailout bill and the … Read the rest
It was a crazy week last week for me so I need to catch up a bit in the world of green stocks! On Thursday of last week, Suntech Power (STP) was hit with a sell rating and price target of $16 by Hapoalim Securities (who?) saying they are impressed by the cost structure of the company but believes their 35 – 45%% exposure to Spain and nearly 85% exposure to Europe will hurt them … Read the rest
Suntech (STP) has announced that it will provide 1.6 MW of solar panels to Sun Devil Solar LLC, a subsidiary of Integrys Energy Services for its project with Arizona State University. ASU will install the modules on top of two parking structures in the middle of campus and is to be completed by the end of this year. It’s expected to produce enough electricity to power 3680 computers each year (the equivalent of 260 … Read the rest
Suntech Power Holdings Co announced today that it has been selected to provide solar panels for a 1 MW solar power system that will supply the North Face’s West Coast distribution center in Visalia, California with electricity. EI Solutions will handle the installation itself, using RayTracker(TM) GC single-axis solar trackers.
According to the EPA, this will reduce North Face’s carbon emissions by 1,300 metric tons each year, the equivalent of taking 250 cars off the … Read the rest
Call activity is picking up in the solar names. Suntech Power Holdings (STP) was up over 12% today to $41.75. Almost 5,000 STP Sept 45’s traded today vs and open interest of 5,351. There was also roughly 600 Oct 45’s, 1,000 Oct 50’s, and 500 Oct 55’s vs almost zero open interest before today.
CSIQ saw similar action. The standout strike is the Sept 30 that traded 6,600 contracts today vs an open interest of … Read the rest