As an investor, are you more afraid of the fallout from credit spreads or are you more afraid of missing the market bottom? The battle between fear and greed on global stock markets has led to many casualties this week, including FirstSolar (FSLR – Last trade $104.54).
Photo:Lutor44, Creative Commons, Flickr The management of SunTech (STP – Last trade $39.48) has demonstrated great ability to negotiate long term polysilicon supply agreements. It has now become obvious that one of the company’s primary goals is to secure long term supply contracts. During the company’s 1Q07 conference call, the CEO said that the company expected…
Photo:urbangarden, Creative Commons, Flickr It's been almost two months since Yingling Energy (YGE – Last trade $17.07) had its IPO, and the stock has rallied nicely from an opening price of $10.80 to a high of $20.40 on July 12. The company is a vertically integrated photovoltaic product manufacturer based in China. It produces silicon,…
First Solar (FSLR – Last trade $111.64) on Thursday registered to sell 9.65 million shares, including 5.65 million shares to be sold by selling stockholders. FSLR traded down sharply on the news. We have suggested before that FSLR may go for a secondary offering, and today's sell-off on the news provides a great entry point…
Earnings season is once again upon us, and the losses on subprime mortgages still continue to have a negative spill-over on the stock market. SunPower (SPWR – Last trade $68.71) reported ahead of the opening bell, and shares tanked. SPWR August option implied volatility moved up to 57 before the start of trade, above its 6-month average…
Photo:kqedquest, Creative Commons, Flickr Have you been itching to buy FirstSolar (FSLR – Last trade $112.05), but nervous to get on board with the stock going hyperbolic? If yes, I have some great news. Barrons just did a front page story on how FSLR "may get singed". Given the stock's unbelievable run over recent weeks,…
Photo:coda, Creative Commons, Flickr The German photovoltaic industry knew bad news was on the way, and it could have been worse. Last week, Germany’s Environment Ministry recommended a shift in subsidies from solar energy installations to offshore wind farms. The solar sector breathed a collective sigh of relief because the subsidy could have easily been…
Let's assume for a moment that we had it wrong. Since we started covering solar stocks at The Panelist, we've been working with the assumption that solar valuations appear stretched. Love him or hate him, Mad Money host Jim Cramer also added his voice to the emerging consensus that solar valuations have gone too far.…
Another day, another note on a Chinese solar stock. With the exception of SolarFun (SOLF – Last trade $9.69), I still feel that the market hasn't separated the winners from the losers in the Chinese solar crowd. Is Trina Solar (TSL – Last trade $47.12) a winner? Today's trading was very interesting, with TSL suddenly…
Chinese stocks could be in for another wild ride during July, and Chinese solar stocks could be dragged into the mess. The two most volatile Chinese solar stocks, TSL (Last trade $44.63) and JASO (Last trade $29.21), seem particularly vulnerable to wild swings in Shanghai.
FirstSolar (FSLR – Last trade $80.82) is arguably the brightest solar stock of 2007. The stock has skyrocketed from a January 3 low of $28.20 to a June 19 high of $79.88. Banc of America, Lazard Capital, Piper Jaffray, Cowen & Co and First Albany all have buy ratings on the stock. Jim Cramer, who…
It has been a crazy week in stock markets, with U.S. yields pushing higher and stocks trading sharply lower. The Fed's Geithner feels that volatility in U.S. Treasuries, at the highest in almost two years, may be returning to "normal." What's going on here, and how can solar investors position themselves for higher volatility?
The Evergreen Solar (ESLR – Last trade $8.51) stock price has done nothing over the last few months, unlike many of its peers in the solar sector. As we have pointed out before, ESLR's trump card technology – the ability to use less polysilicon to make solar cells – could become less valuable if the…
Ever since I started writing about solar investments, I’ve had an uneasy feeling about the sky-high valuations on some of the solar stocks covered in this blog. When considering that the solar industry is growing at 30-40% annually, it would appear that some of the valuations are justified. It is an unrealistic assumption that we’re…
As we pointed out last week, the emerging consensus seems to be that solar is a commodity and that the only thing that matters is cost per watt. Many feel that solar will ultimately be based in China for all the same reasons that cellphones and computers are made there. Too many cooks spoil the…
There’s a new Chinese solar stock in town, with Nanjing-based China Sunergy (CSUN – Last trade $13.71) rising 51% on its first trading day on May 17. And there is more to come: China-based LDK Solar and Yingli Green Energy will also make their debuts on the New York Stock Exchange during the next few…
I’ll never forget the first time I saw Jim Cramer’s MAD MONEY. I arrived in Los Angeles, checked into my dirty hotel (after a 24 hour flight) and turned on the TV while I tried to fall asleep. While flicking through the channels, I came across a wide-eyed, over-the-top madman throwing chairs around while discussing…
I like to catch up on my reading while on the subway on the way to work (Warren Buffet once said that Wall Street is the only place that people ride to work in a Rolls Royce to get advice from those who take the subway). I came across an interesting article discussing the polysilicon…
Photo: i.say, Creative Commons, Flickr After disappointing earnings result on April 27, it’s been a bumpy ride for shareholders of MEMC Electronic Materials (WFR – Last trade $59.15). The company reported Q1 results in line with street estimates, with Q1 EPS at $0.71 vs. $0.69 expected (EPS included a favorable tax credit of $0.02) and…
With 68% of the S&P 500 having reported results, earnings are currently on track to have risen 6.8% year on year; more than double what analysts polled by Thomson Financial were forecasting on April 1. Investors seem to have adapted to the fact that the U.S. economy is slowing, earnings continue to be solid and…
On April 26 SunPower (SPWR – Last trade $59.55) reported knockout Q1 results. This was the first quarter that SPWR reported results consolidated with PowerLight following its January 10th acquisition. The company reported EPS of $0.29/share, blowing away the street's estimate of $0.19/share (a lower tax rate allowed for EPS upside to the quarter). Non-GAAP…
On April 17, Evergreen Solar (ESLR – Last trade $10.72) announced a polysilicon supply contract with Korean company DC Chemical. Some analysts have been skeptical about the true costs and benefits of the supply contract and, with earnings from the supply contract not expected to have an impact until 2009, impatient traders have dumped the…
A few days ago, Energy Conversion Devices (ENER – Last trade $36.19) announced that they will have a "corporate update conference call." This was seen as a notable development, given that the company has never released its results until mid-May. Option traders got excited and on April 18 over 11,500 calls were traded. The stock…
It still makes no economic sense to install a solar power system for your home, but solar stocks continue to skyrocket higher and higher. Given that we are still a few years away from feasible solar power, are the gains being made on solar stocks justified? Will investors get (sun)burnt by a solar bubble?
Photo:Roger Wilco, Creative Commons, Flickr I have some good news and some bad news. The bad news is that SunPower (SPWR – Last trade $49.92), the darling of the solar sector, trades at a P/E ratio of 133+. With the industry average P/E ratio at 25.70, not everyone can afford SPWR. The good news is…