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
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
Yingli Green Energy (YGE) has secured a long term supply of polysilicon from Wacker Chemie which will supply Yingli with enough polysilicon to produce 380MW from 2010 to 2017
“Our business cooperation with Wacker Chemie, established in 2003, has developed over the years on the basis of the two parties’ long-term views of each other and of the PV industry. As of today, we have secured seven mid- to long-term virgin polysilicon supply agreements with … 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
Solar stocks were up nicely today and the option volume spiked in many of the names.
The following showed up on my nightly scan for highest % change in option volume above its 10 day average:
SOLF 576%
LDK 346%
TSL 223%
STP 197%
YGE 196%
Most of the volume came from call buying so it will be interesting to see if these bullish bets pay off.… Read the rest
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
Yingli Green Energy announced that a Chinese subsidiary, Tianwei Yingli, came out on top in bidding contest to supply photovoltaic products to China’s biggest cell phone company, China Mobile Communications Corp. Tianwei Yingli will supply the cell phone company with 1.5 MW worth of PV modules, over 31% of China Mobile Communications Corp’s latest PV purchases. Yingli expects a supply contract with China Mobile Communications Corp to result from the deal, with the details to … Read the rest
Yingli Green Energy announced that after it reaches 600 MW of capacity in 2009, it has no further plans to expand. The company recently upped its capacity to 400 MW, and will add an additional 200 MW capacity by the 3rd quarter of next year.
The AP reports that the company’s "cash and cash equivalent totaled about $130 million on Sept. 30, and that its cash flow is sufficient for the rest of 2008 and … Read the rest
With the bill to extend investment tax credits for renewable energy (finally!) past the Senate, Shares of several stocks that had taken a beating began to rise again. For example, shares of Energy Conversion Devices (ENER), which had taken a nosedive of 18.5% on Tuesday, were back up by 13 percent, to $63.79. Solar Integrated Technologies, one of Energy Conversion Devices major clients, lowered its guidance for the second half of 2008 based in part … Read the rest
Yingli Green Energy (YGE) announced today that it has a sales contract with SunDurance Energy LLC, which develops large scale energy facilities in the US. YGE will supply 1.4MW of PV modules to SunDurance from Dec 08 to Jan 09 to be used at the Livingston Campus of Rutgers University. It’s expected to be the largest campus solar energy facility in the US and generate 10% of the electrical demand while reducing campus carbon … Read the rest