Energy

Big Short Interest Changes Hitting Solar Sector

Solar rooftop installation
Source: Thinkstock
We have tracked the short interest in the following North American Solar companies as of September 13: Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSIQ), First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR), GT Advanced Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: GTAT), SunEdison Inc. (NYSE: SUNE) and SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWR).

In the Chinese solar sector we tracked the following short interest changes: JA Solar Holdings Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ: JASO), LDK Solar Co. Inc. (NYSE: LDK), Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (NYSE: STP), Trina Solar Ltd. (NYSE: TSL) and Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. Ltd. (NYSE: YGE). For China-based firms, the percentage of shares short is not available because the companies are also listed on other exchanges.

Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSIQ) saw short interest rise by 5.7% to 3.49 million shares, about 5.7% of the company’s total float.

First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) short interest dropped by 3.8% to 10.78 million shares, which represents 15.3% of the company’s float.

GT Advanced Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: GTAT) showed a decrease of 3.9% in short interest to 37.98 million shares, about 31.1% of GT’s float.

SunEdison Inc. (NYSE: SUNE) showed an increase of 6.2% in short interest to 21.71 million shares. About 9.4% of the company’s stock is now short.

SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWR) saw short interest rise 5.3% to 12.24 million shares, or 29.2% of the company’s total float.

JA Solar Holdings Co., Ltd. (NASDAQ: JASO) showed a drop of 8.8% in short interest to 3.91 million shares.

LDK Solar Co. Inc. (NYSE: LDK) saw short interest fall by 7.8% to 3.94 million shares.

Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (NYSE: STP) showed a rise of 13.1% in short interest to 17.84 million shares.

Trina Solar Ltd. (NYSE: TSL) saw a short interest drop of 1.9% to 9.79 million shares.

Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. Ltd. (NYSE: YGE) showed a decline of 16.7% in short interest to 10.39 million shares.

When we were looking at possible value plays in the solar sector earlier this month, we noted that Yingli was fully valued and that it might be a good short play. We were not the only ones who noticed apparently. The shares still trade near that earlier price, a full $1.50 higher than they were at the end of August.

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