First Solar Earnings
First Solar, Inc. released its earnings and the market is pushing it down -16%
First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) reports Q3 EPS of $1.79, 6 cents better than the analyst estimate of $1.73. Revenue for the quarter was $480 million, which compares to the estimate of $528.78 million. Shares are being cripled, down over 16% this morning.
Sees FY09 Revs of $1.975 - $2.025 billion, versus $2 billion consensus.
(CEO) Net sales were $480.9 million that drove net income of $153.3 million and diluted earnings per share of $1.79.
Labels: Earnings, First Solar Inc, FSLR, Solar Stocks
German Solar Subsidy
Analysts this morning are parsing the fine print of a four-year coalition agreement ratified in Germany today that will likely have an impact on funding for solar technology projects, and on solar technology vendors such as First Solar (FSLR) and SunPower (SPWRA).
As Bloomberg notes, German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union pushed through measures for a $36 billion tax cut meant to spur economic growth, a compromise with more aggressive proposals. The measures relating to solar funding appear vague and thus open to widely differing interpretations.
The agreement does not call for immediate cuts in the so-called feed-in tariff for solar projects, subsidies that have helped boost German investment in the technology, writes Collins Stewart analyst Dan Ries. The agreement “highlights that the coalition is committed to solar and indicates that the government will pursue a dialog with the solar industry and community leaders to determine if the current subsidy is too generous.”
SourceLabels: First Solar Inc, FSLR, Solar Funding, Solar Stocks, SPWRA, SunPower Corp
SunPower Corporation Upgraded
SunPower Corporation (SPWRA) was upgraded by some analysts, and moved yesterday into new highs.
Macquarie upgraded SPWRA from Underperform to Neutral, and raised price target from $23.50 to $30.
Looking at the chart, there is a price resistance around $34, and if today we get to close above that price, we could be at the beginning of another bullish rally for this solar stock.
With Crude Oil getting very close to $80, Solar Stocks might have enough momentum to keep the current short-term trend up. Most Solar Stocks are now pointing up such as First Solar (FSLR) and Suntech Power (STP), etc..
In my opinion it's the perfect time to jump in now, for a quick trade, as long as today's movement in Solars keeps going up.
Labels: Bullish, First Solar Inc, solar analysis, solar charts, Solar Stocks, SPWRA, SunPower Corp, Suntech Power
Solar Upgrades and Downgrades
Australian firm Macquarie has made several changes to stocks in the Solar sector this morning:
upgrades Yingli Green Energy (NYSE: YGE) from Neutral to Outperform. Shares of Yingli are up 2.6% to $13.06 in the pre-market trading session.
upgrades Sunpower (Nasdaq: SPWRA) from Underperform to Neutral. The stock is up 1.3% to $32.
downgrades First Solar (Nasdaq: FSLR) from Outperform to Neutral. First Solar shares are down slightly to $147.41.
downgrades Suntech Power Holdings (NYSE: STP) from Neutral to Underperform. Shares of Suntech are down 0.13% to $14.87.
The Claymore/MAC Global Solar Index ETF (NYSE: TAN), or commonly referred to as just "the TAN", is up about 0.21% today.
Source: StreetInsider.com
Labels: First Solar Inc, FSLR, solar ETF, SPWRA, STP, SunPower Corp, TAN, Yingli Green Energy Hold
First Solar Added to the S&P 500 Index
First Solar Inc. (Nasdaq: FSLR), the world`s leading manufacturer of
photovoltaic modules, today announced that the company`s common stock was added
to the S&P 500 Index after the market closed on Oct. 15, 2009.
First Solar is the first pure-play renewable energy company to be added to the
index, which represents a milestone for the solar industry.
The company will be added to the S&P 500 GICS (Global Industry Classification
Standard) Electrical Components & Equipment Sub-Industry of the Industrials
sector.
Source: Reuters
Labels: First Solar Inc, FSLR, Solar Stocks, SP500
Solar Reversal ?
Solar Stocks started last week with a strong bullish run, with a technical short-term swing buy signal, but the winning streak seems to be over today, with most solar stocks in the negative territory.
Sun Power Corporation and
Suntech Power Holdings Co. are the perfect examples for today's charts.
SPWRA touched a price resistance around $33 and seems to be pointing down for the short-term.
STP backed away form the 50day moving average so watch out for a possible support near the 200MA or $14
Tomorrow we will get the confirmation, if the market keeps heading down, or if it's just another Bear Trap. Intel's earnings today can make a lot of difference.
Labels: solar charts, Solar Stocks, SPWRA, STP, SunPower Corp, Suntech Power
Solar cell powers LG e-reader
LG Display has developed a solar-powered e-reader, which it says gives a day's power after four or five hours in the sun.
The Solar Cell e-Book is based around a 100m solar cell just 0.7mm thick and weighing 20g. It fits the six-inch TFT LCD display panel which the company already produces.
Produced by placing electrodes onto a glass or plastic substrate, the cell is lighter than the standard type of crystalline solar cell based on silicon wafers, says LG, and means process efficiency can be raised through increasing the substrate size. Because the technology is similar to TFT-LCD, the entry barrier is relatively low for LCD manufacturers such as LG.
“E-books are attracting a lot of attention because they offer the advantage of storing thousands of books’ worth of contents in an easy-to-carry device. The idea of e-book combined with solar cell will offer users the added benefit of longer usage," said Ki Yong Kim, head of the Solar Cell Office at LG Display.
sourceLabels: LG, solar cells, Solar power, Solar Powered
SunPower to Announce Third-Quarter Results
SunPower to Announce Third-Quarter Results on October 22, 2009SAN JOSE, Calif., Oct. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWRA) (NASDAQ:SPWRB) will announce its third-quarter earnings in a conference call on Thursday, October 22 at 1:30 p.m. Pacific Time. The call-in number is 517-623-4618, passcode SunPower. The event will be webcast and can be accessed from SunPower's website at http://investors.sunpowercorp.com/events.cfm.
Full text of the press release and supplemental financial information will be made available on the SunPower website at http://investors.sunpowercorp.com/ http://investors.sunpowercorp.com/at 1:05 p.m. Pacific Time on October 22.
About SunPower
Founded in 1985, SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ:SPWRA) (NASDAQ:SPWRB) designs, manufactures and delivers the planet's most powerful solar technology broadly available today. Residential, business, government and utility customers rely on the company's experience and proven results to maximize return on investment. With headquarters in San Jose, Calif., SunPower has offices in North America, Europe, Australia and Asia. For more information, visit www.sunpowercorp.com.
Source: prnewswire.com
Labels: Earnings, Solar Stocks, SPWRA, SunPower Corp
Suntech Power Swinging up
Suntech Power Holdings Co. seems to be starting another short-term bullish trend for the next week. Other Solar Stocks like SPWRA and SOLF seem to have the same pattern.
Meanwhile there is a good read on istockanalyst regarding Solar Stocks:
Solar Stocks For 2010Upon review, the second quarter wasn't at all bad for solar stocks.
Most household names reported earnings higher than Street estimates, including First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR: 156.6, 1.8), Suntech (NYSE: STP: 14.98, 0.38), and SunPower (NASDAQ: SPWRA: 30.51, 0.71) — all of which turned a profit.
Several companies also reiterated or raised forward-looking guidance.
But I'd be remiss if I didn't say there was a feeling of anxiety brewing. Some second-tier companies lowered gross margin outlook as a result of falling average selling prices (ASPs). Module prices fell ~9% in the quarter, ranging anywhere from $2.50-$3.00/W, and were expected to decline further in the second half of the year.
Further up the supply chain, prices were also falling for polysilicon, the industry's raw material. Prices have been reduced by more than half and are now hovering in the $50-$60 per kilogram range. Producers like MEMC (NYSE: WFR) need prices above ~$28 to turn any kind of profit.
Full ArticleLabels: solar charts, Solar Stocks, solarstocks, SOLF, SPWRA, STP, Suntech Power
A New Powerhouse in Solar
Back in 2007, Dow Chemical (NYSE: DOW) won a $20 million grant from the Department of Energy to research and develop building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) products. The fruits of that government-sponsored labor are Dow's Powerhouse Solar Shingle, which the company is bringing to market in partnership with solar-cell shop Global Solar Energy and homebuilders Lennar (NYSE: LEN) and Pulte Homes.
Other firms active in BIPV include Suntech Power (NYSE: STP), Energy Conversion Devices (Nasdaq: ENER), and Ascent Solar (Nasdaq: ASTI), which is a bit further behind Global Solar in the commercialization of thin-film copper-indium-gallium-diselenide (CIGS) solar cells on a flexible substrate. Compared to the headline-grabbing utility-scale projects of First Solar (Nasdaq: FSLR), BrightSource Energy, and others, BIPV hasn't given investors much to get fired up about lately.
Dow may aim to change that. The company projects $5 billion in revenue by 2015, and $10 billion to $11 billion by 2020. That's just for the Powerhouse shingle, ostensibly the first of more BIPV products to come.
The key source of Dow's enthusiasm appears to be its claim that the shingle will be 30%-40% cheaper than current BIPV solutions, and 10%-15% below the per-watt installed cost of conventional rooftop panels.
SourceLabels: First Solar Inc, FSLR, solar efficiency, solar panels, Solar Stocks, STP, Suntech Power, The Dow Chemical Company
Huge market in solar shingles
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Dow Chemical Co said on Monday it would begin selling a new rooftop shingle next year that converts sunlight into electricity -- and could generate $5 billion in revenue by 2015 for the company.
The new solar shingles can be integrated into rooftops with standard asphalt shingles, Dow said, and will be introduced in 2010 before a wider roll-out in 2011.
"We're looking at this one product that could generate $5 billion in revenue by 2015 and $10 billion by 2020," Jane Palmieri, managing director of Dow Solar Solutions, told Reuters in an interview.
The shingle will use thin-film cells of copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS), a photovoltaic material that typically is more efficient at turning sunlight into electricity than traditional polysilicon cells.
Dow is using CIGS cells that operate at higher than 10 percent efficiency, below the efficiencies for the top polysilicon cells -- but would cost 10 to 15 percent less on a per watt basis.
Labels: CIGS, Solar News, solar panels, Solar Stocks, solarstocks
