Solar Reading
The day was negative for the markets as it was for the solar stocks.
Most of the stocks closed with losses around -6% and -8%
Not much news except the Crude Oil pointing to new highs, and if Oil does get above $100 we could see another rally in the solar sector.
An interesting article on CNET about First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR)
Why does First Solar stand alone?
First Solar, which makes cadmium-telluride solar cells, is having one of those years that corporate managers and investors dream about.
Revenues more than tripled in the third quarter to $159 million from a year ago while profits rose to $46 million, or about ten times what they were the year before. Plant expansion is occurring rapidly and the company's stock has gone from $20 to over $200 in a year. The stock price seems vastly inflated when you look at traditional price-earnings ratios, but it's not the first time people have bet big on a growth stock. It's the Google of solar on that score.
Full article
hereLabels: Crude Oil, FSLR, Solar Stocks
Suntech 3Q Profit Up on Rising Demand
Suntech Power (NYSE: STP) released 3Q earnings and is up 10% in Pre-market trading. The earnings numbers are in the article below:
Suntech 3rd-Quarter Profit Climbs 43.8 Percent As Production Ramps to Meet Strong Demand
NEW YORK (Associated Press) - Suntech Power Holdings Co. said Thursday its third-quarter profit rose sharply as the solar-products maker increased production to meet "robust demand."
Net income rose 43.8 percent to $41.3 million, or 25 cents per share, from $28.7 million, or 19 cents per share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 94.7 percent to $317.4 million from $163 million.
Results missed Wall Street estimates. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected earnings of 28 cents per share on revenue of $355 million, on average.
"Our recent long term silicon contracts with Asia Silicon, Nitol Solar, ReneSola and a major Korean conglomerate mark a major turning point for Suntech's silicon supply environment as they will both enhance our margins and expand our volume," Chief Executive Zhengrong Shi said in a statement.
During the third quarter, Suntech produced solar cells and modules with over 100 megawatts of annual generating capacity. A one-megawatt power plant running continuously at full capacity can power 778 households each year, according to the Department of Energy. Solar technologies have lower capacity factors since their availability to generate power is constrained by availability of the sun.
Full articleLabels: Earnings, STP
Solar Corrections
The indexes made new lows this month, this time with solar stocks going deep into the red, mainly because of the selling pressure of the global markets as well as the recent Crude Oil correction from historical highs, and the new Solar Tax changes in the U.S.
The crude oil price is very correlated to the solar stocks sector, and while the market is not bullish on the short term, the mid to long term hasn't changed.
FSLR lead the losses with -14% just for the day.
Other solar stock movement for the day:
LDK -13,66%
CSIQ -10%
STP -8,78%The newcomers, Solar Fun (SOLF) and Trina Solar(TSL), were both loosing -17% ahead of the whole group.
And the recent headlines for SunTech Power(STP) and the Solar Tax in USA:
Suntech Supplies Solar Modules to 3MW Project for Leading South Korean Power CompanySolar Stocks Tumble On Reports Solar Investment Tax Credits Could Be Left Out Of Energy BillLabels: CSIQ, FSLR, LDK, Solar Stocks, SOLF, STP, TSL
Solar Stock Charts
First Solar continued upward yesterday, reaching more than 30% in gains for the day, with the whole solar energy industry going contrary to the direction of the general markets that dipped into new month lows.
FSLR closed at $224.43 gaining 34.29% this Thursday.
Other titles such as STP, SPWR, CSIQ or SOLF opened higher following FSLR move, but most of them closed neutral because of the massive sell off in the world markets.
Here is the charts of three of the most negotiated solar energy stocks:
FSLR
STP
SPWR
US Markets are opening lower again today but solar stocks seem to be steady.
While I don't expect the same gains of yesterday, FSLR should hold most of its value.
Labels: FSLR, Solar Stocks, Solar Stocks Performance, SPWR, STP
First Solar Earnings (FSLR)
Today FSLR released their earnings, you can read the financial info here:
First Solar Q3 Profit Surges; Stock ClimbsShares closed down 1% at $167.12 today, but in the afterhours trading shares are up
+23.56% trading at $206.50
Contrary to the recent market down movement, Solar Stocks are even higher, beating all other market sectors in performance for this year.
Other high performance solar stocks: STP, SPWR, TSL, ESLR, etc..
I've haven't done recent updates on this blog, but doesn't mean that I dont watch the solar stocks sector everyday.
I hope to do further updates in the following months since the solar industry is hitting the spotlight in the following months, just as I predicted a year ago that it would beat every other sector, including many hot china stocks and funds.
Tomorrow the rest of the other stocks will probably follow FSLR upward movement, gaping up, while the rest of the global markets gap down.
Labels: Earnings, ESLR, FSLR, SolaFSLR, SPWR, Stocks, STP, TSL
