Posts for Ticker ‘ENER’

The Unusual Suspects (AMLN, LLY, ALKS, ESLR, ENER, DPS, ATHN, SQNM, ABK, NKE, FDX, GME, COMS, PALM)

This week we have several issues to watch.  Earnings season is mostly done but there are still many on deck in this week’s unusual suspects.  Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMLN), Eli Lilly & Co. (NYSE: LLY) and Alkermes, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALKS) are still in the ‘pending’ status for FDA.  Evergreen Solar (NASDAQ: ESLR), Energy Conversion Devices (NASDAQ: ENER), and Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, Inc. (NYSE: DPS) are all touched in Barron’s.  Next week we have AthenaHealth, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATHN), Sequenom In.c (NASDAQ: SQNM), AMBAC Financial (NYSE: ABK), Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE), FedEx Corporation (NYSE: FDX), GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME), 3Com (NASDAQ: COMS) and Palm, Inc. (NASDAQ: PALM) are all scheduled to report earnings.  We have handicapped the events with basic previews and Thomson Reuters, and we have added color for traders on what else to look for outside of the numbers.

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Top 10 Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades (BIIB, CMA, ENER, ESLR, FSLR, MAT, HK, TRV, YUM, ZRAN)

These are this Tuesday morning’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen in early Wall Street research notes:

Biogen Idec (NASDAQ: BIIB) Started as Buy at Soleil.
Comerica (NYSE: CMA) Cut to Market Perform at BMO Capital.
Energy Conversion Devices (NASDAQ: ENER) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.
Evergreen Solar (NASDAQ: ESLR) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.
Mattel Inc. (NYSE: MAT) Raised to Buy at Citi.
Petrohawk Energy (NYSE: HK) Raised to Outperform at Wells Fargo.
The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE: TRV) Started as Buy at Citigroup.
YUM! Brands (NYSE: YUM) Raised to Buy at UBS.
Zoran Corporation (NASDAQ: ZRAN) Cut to Hold at Collins Stewart.

You can join our free daily email distribution list to hear more about dividend trends, analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader and active trader alerts, news on Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, private equity, and more.

JON C. OGG

More Cleantech IPOs and Mergers Coming? (FSLR, SPWRA, ENER, WFR)

If you have watched the earnings from solar power companies and other Cleantech companies in recent weeks, the obvious elephant in the room is the notion that there needs to be mergers in the aspects of Cleantech.  There is a problem in betting that companies like First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) or SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ: SPWRA) are just about to embark on a wave of acquisitions.  Companies probably only want to buy profitable companies or companies that can be profitable under a larger operator.  That may be hard to come by.

But there is a reason to wonder if more Cleantech mergers are heading our way.  First and foremost,, Stifel Nicolaus & Company just announced today that it has brought over a head of Cleantech Investment Banking Team.  We have also seen SunPower recently make a transaction.  And the IPO market has been very quiet as Wall Street does not want to reabsorb private equity re-sells nor does it want to finance companies losing money.

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Changing Solar Sentiment Into First Solar Earnings (FSLR, JASO, TAN, PBW, WFR, ENER, SPWRA)

This will not be the first time you have heard this statement from 24/7 Wall St…  “Solar stocks may be nothing more than leveraged bets that react to sudden price moves in the price of crude oil.”  First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) is the leader of the solar power sector, and it is due to report earnings after the close of trading on Thursday.  The recent price activity may be tied to or at least aided by the rapid rise in the price of oil.  But personal opinions aside, there is beginning to be the feel of a significant sentiment change on how to treat the company on its earnings.

We do not want to say that First Solar will impact every solar player out there on a generic statement, but we are going to look specifically at JA Solar Holdings Co., Ltd. (NASDAQ: JASO), Claymore/MAC Global Solar Energy (NYSE: TAN), PowerShares WilderHill Clean Energy (NYSE: PBW), MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc. (NYSE: WFR), Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ: ENER), and SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWRA).  We have looked at developments here on each of these stocks.
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Will One Solar Merger Precede Others? (SPWRA, FSLR, JASO, ENER, LDK, SOLR, WFR

SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWRA) has made what may be one of the first decent sized mergers in the solar sector.  The company agreed to acquire SunRay Renewable Energy in Malta for $277 million.  The equity purchase was $235 million in cash, the rest as a letter of credit. Just last year, SunRay received a $200 million equity commitment from Denham Capital.

We have been expecting consolidation here in the solar sector.  It is a hot sector as far as what will get backing and funding from the Obama administration.  There are many players, and the U.S. companies need larger scale and leverage to better compete against the Chinese solar stocks.  And they have to do whatever they can to get back to or to stay profitable.

In any buyout scenario if any sort of solar mergers were to come up, First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) is the big kahuna.  It would be a buyer unless for some reason a traditional oil or gas company decided that they really wanted to compete again BP plc (NYSE: BP) for its large solar initiative.  It is possible, just unlikely because of valuations.  The company is under a new CEO with a solid reputation, but even with a $9.6 billion market cap the stock is way from highs.
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Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ANF, BIDU, BSX, DF, ENER, GBL, NVDA, PALM, MMM, RHT)

These are the top ten analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations we have seen from Wall Street research calls:

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF) Raised to Outperform Oppenheimer.
Baidu Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) Raised to Neutral at HSBC, whoops!; target raised to $550 by Citigroup.
Boston Scientific (NYSE: BSX) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
Dean Foods (NYSE: DF) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
Energy Conversion Devices (NASDAQ: ENER) Raised to Hold at Jefferies.
GAMCO Investors (NYSE: GBL) Raised to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) Raised to Buy at Roth Capital.
Palm Inc, (NASDAQ: PALM) Raised to Hold from Sell at Citigroup.
3M Co. (NYSE: MMM) Raised to Outperform at Bernstein.
Red Hat Inc. (NYSE: RHT) Started as Outperform at William Blair.

You are invited to join our free daily email distribution list to hear about top analyst upgrades and downgrades, IPOs and secondary offerings, ongoing day trader and options trader alerts, stock and market rumors, Buffett and guru investor news, M&A and more.

JON C. OGG
FEBRUARY 11, 2010

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades (ADBE, AINV, CPST, DELL, ENER, LEAP, MEE, TIF, BTU, VVUS, ZBRA)

These are some of this Wednesday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street research calls this morning:

Adobe Systems (NASDAQ: ADBE) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse; Raised to Buy at Jefferies.
Apollo Investment (NASDAQ: AINV) Raised to Outperform at Wells Fargo.
Capstone Turbine Corp. (NASDAQ: CPST) Raised to Outperform at Northland.
Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) Raised to Buy at BofA/Merrill Lynch.
Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ: ENER) Cut to Sell at UBS.
Leap Wireless (NASDAQ: LEAP) Started as Market Perform at BMO Capital.
Massey Energy (NYSE: MEE) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF) Raised to Buy at BofA/Merrill Lynch.
Peabody Energy Corp. (NYSE: BTU) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
VIVUS Inc. (NASDAQ: VVUS) Started as Buy at Jesup & Lamont.
Zebra Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ: ZBRA) Raised to Outperform at Baird.

You are invited to join our free daily email distribution list to hear about top analyst upgrades and downgrades, IPOs and secondary offerings, ongoing day trader and options trader alerts, stock and market rumors, Buffett and guru investor news, M&A and more.

JON C. OGG
FEBRUARY 10, 2010

Key Short Selling Changes In Solar Stocks (FSLR, JASO, SPWRA, STP, ENER, LDK, CSIQ)

The second half of November showed somewhat of a mixed bag in short selling activity in the universe of our actively traded and more prominent solar stocks.  We saw a gain in short selling many names at the end of November versus mid-November.  And even though there were several with lower short interest in the shares, the one common denominator is that ALL of these short interests are much higher than what we were seeing just six months ago.

The gains in short selling in major solar players are as follows:

  • First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) 12,623.088 shares short, a gain of 0.3% from 12,590,473.
  • JA Solar Holdings, Co., Ltd. (NASDAQ: JASO) 7,612,356 shares short, a gain of 7.5% from 7,079,428.
  • SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ: SPWRA) 13,282,532 shares short, a gain of 14.1% from 11,641,669.
  • Suntech Power Holdings Co. (NYSE: STP) 23,490,428 shares short, a gain of 6.9% from 21,970,277.

The drop in the short interest in solar players is as follows:

  • Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ: ENER) 15.951,275 shares short, a drop of 1% from 16,113,828.
  • LDK Solar Co. Inc. (NYSE: LDK) 21,990,443 shares short, a drop of 2.5% from 22,552,585.
  • Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSIQ) 1,988,891 shares short, a drop of 16.6% from the 2,385,353.

JON C. OGG
December 10, 2009

Value Track: Revisiting Stocks The Rally Left Behind (ABT, MO, AWK, BKC, ENER, GENZ, KR, ORB, WMT, LEAP, PCS)

It was early in October before earnings season kicked off into full thrust when we first reviewed many large or actively traded stocks which had not participated in the stock market rally of 2009.  At the time, the DJIA was up 12.75% for the year, and the S&P 500 Index was up more than 19%; as of Friday’s post-jobs data close the DJIA is up over 18% and the S&P is up 22%.  To add an even more extreme measure since the March 9 close that traders use as the official pivot close before the great bull market of 2009 started, the gain the the DJIA is up over 58% and the S&P 500 is up over 63%.  Yet it is amazing.  Some of these stocks that have been left behind n the rally have still been left behind.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT), Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO), American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE: AWK), Burger King Holdings Inc. (NYSE: BKC), Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ: ENER), Genzyme Corp. (NASDAQ: GENZ), Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR), Orbital Sciences Corp. (NYSE: ORB) and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT).  Two similar situation stocks that are Leap Wireless International Inc. (NASDAQ: LEAP) and MetroPCS Communications Inc. (NYSE: PCS) were all the underperformers of the time.

We have broken these into two groups with the first being the ones that have managed to spark a recovery and rallied more than the markets.  Since the cut-off date of October 9 used for these prices, the DJIA is up 5.3% and the S&P is up 3.2%.  The first group is the winners and we won’t spend much time there other than how they have performed since the October 9 cut-off date:
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Top Analyst Upgrades, Downgrades, Initiations (ADBE, CETV, ENER, SOLR, KR, RL, RAX, SQNM)

These are this morning’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen early this Tuesday morning from Wall Street research calls:

Adobe Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE) Raised to Buy at Janney Montgomery Scott.
Central Euro Media Enterprises Ltd. (NASDAQ: CETV) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ: ENER) Cut to Sell at Citigroup; Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan; Cut to Hold at Lazard.
GT Solar International, Inc. (NASDAQ: SOLR) Cut to Underweight at Piper Jaffray.
Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) Raised to Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.
Polo Ralph Lauren Corp. (NYSE: RL) Raised to Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.
Rackspace Hosting, Inc. (NYSE: RAX) Raised to Outperform at Oppenheimer; Raised to Buy at Kaufman
Sequenom Inc. (NASDAQ: SQNM) Maintained Sell and $3 target at Auriga.

You can join our open email distribution list to get updates on top analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader alerts, IPO’s, secondary offerings, Warren Buffett and other guru activity, M&A and more.

JON C. OGG

Top 10 Earnings on Deck This Week (ERTS, ENER, PCLN, SQNM, TYC, AMAT, M, JWN, WMT, DIS)

bull-and-bear-image2Earnings season has wound down now with over 85% of the S&P 500 Index having reported.  Still, there are some key companies posting their quarterly results and some companies were screened out of this list which are still actively traded or widely held stocks.  Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS), Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ: ENER), Priceline.com Inc. (NASDAQ: PCLN) and Sequenom Inc. (NASDAQ: SQNM) are on deck Monday. Also this week are earnings from Tyco International Ltd. (NYSE: TYC), Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT), Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE: M), are Nordstrom Inc. (NYSE: JWN). Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) and Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) are our two DJIA components reporting this week.

We have included Thomson Reuters consensus estimates and included performance and other important color where applicable.  We have shown the share performance since the March 9 close that traders mark as the official end date of the bloody bear market.  One issue to consider is that we used the performance since June 30 to keep consistency for our prior previews even though some of the quarter-ends this coming week are technically August 31.
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First Solar Earnings Get Valuation Check (FSLR, TAN, KWT, ENER)

Solar Roof ImageWe have long said that this Q3 period was likely to separate the men from the boys in the solar sector.  Unfortunately, none of the men looked stronger than the boys.  Tonight’s earnings report out of First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) only reiterates the notion that solar power companies are in many ways just leveraged bets on the price of oil.  First Solar posted $1.79 EPS on $480.9 million in revenues (excluding the Sarnia project with $58 million not recognized in Q3).  Thomson Reuters had estimates pegged at $1.74 EPS and $528.78 million in revenues.  The company noted a cost per watt drop of 2.3%, but the gross margin dropped faster by 5.8%.  And there are other reasons to be cautious here.

First Solar is roughly 11% of the key solar ETF in the Claymore/MAC Global Solar Energy (NYSE: TAN), and that is down 3.7% at $8.32 in the after-hours session.  The Market Vectors Solar Energy ETF (NYSE: KWT) is much thinner in trading volume and is indicated lower without much volume, but First Solar is about 8.6% of its weighting.  Many have hoped for a recovery in Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ: ENER), but that is down almost 4% at $11.02 in the after-hours session and that is on the heels of a 4.5% drop during the normal trading session.
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Stocks That Missed the Rally (ABT, MO, AWK, BKC, ENER, GENZ, KR, ORB, WMT, LEAP, PCS)

Here we are going into yet another earnings season.  We saw Monday how the market has rallied significantly from the March lows and the major indexes are even up in positive territory for the 2009 calendar.  The DJIA is up 51% from its absolute lows of March, and the S&P 500 has rallied more than 61% from its absolute lows in March.  If you look at the December 31, 2008 closing bell levels, the DJIA is now up about 12.75% and the S&P 500 is now up more than 19% year-to-date.

But almost as always, there are still some key very large and/or very active stocks which have not recovered anywhere close to the same amounts with the overall stock markets.  Some of these lagging stocks are Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT), Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO), American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE: AWK), Burger King Holdings Inc. (NYSE: BKC), Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ: ENER), Genzyme Corp. (NASDAQ: GENZ), Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR), Orbital Sciences Corp. (NYSE: ORB) and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT).  Two similar situation stocks that are Leap Wireless International Inc. (NASDAQ: LEAP) and MetroPCS Communications Inc. (NYSE: PCS).  We wanted to explore the forward values and relative performance, and the consensus estimates based upon Thomson Reuters data.  Only two of these stocks have market capitalization rates under $1 billion, and almost all are very actively traded and well known in their sectors.
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Alternative Energy Shares Troubled (YGE, SPWRA, TSL, ENER, AONE, CRTP)

oilThis morning’s report on unemployment has cooled enthusiasm for shares across the board. Solar stocks are, for the most part, no exception. Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. Ltd. (YGE) is down nearly 3%, SunPower Corp. (SPWRA) is off more about 2.25%, Trina Solar Ltd. is down about 3.5%, and Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. (ENER) is off more than 3%. Two stocks, A123 Systems Inc. (AONE) and China Ritar Power Corp. (CRTP) are flying against the headwinds. A123 is up more than 7% and Ritar is up about 2% in early trading. Read More »

Uncle Sam’s Boost for Solar (ASTI, FSLR, ENER)

solar-panel-picAscent Solar Technologies (NASDAQ: ASTI) may have a significant win under its belt in the new Army solar pact.  The maker of thin-film solar modules has a new contract from the government that could beget more contracts from the government. We have been hearing more of pacts being struck with the armed forces and other critical government infrastructure facilities for localized on-site and mobile alternative energy now that there is so much concern about the safety of infrastructure after cyberwarfare attacks and the threat of such attacks.   Ascent announced on Friday that it is partnering up with Energy Technologies to create PV-based products for the military.
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Still Too Many Mixed Solar Signals (FSLR, ENER, AMAT, CSIQ, VECO, ED, WFR)

Solar Roof ImageThere are many things that help solar power and orders for the sector, but arguably higher energy prices and tax incentives or subsidies probably dwarf the overall economic situation.  There seems to be a steady series of ups followed by more downs, and you can blame part on the economy and on energy prices.  First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR), Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ: ENER), Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT), Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSIQ), Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ: VECO), Consolidated Edison Inc. (NYSE: ED), and MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. (NYSE: WFR) have all been in solar light with news.
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Top Day Trader Alerts (AIG, BA, C, HGSI, IMMU, ENER, VG)

These are this Thursday morning’s top day trader and active trader alerts with links through to each story with more detailed price and volume analysis over at VSInvestor.com:

American International Group (NYSE: AIG) is trading up over 10% on pay package approval and on possible help from Hank Greenberg.

Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) is up huge for a DJIA component after announcing ist Dreamliner’s maiden voage would be before thee end of the year.

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) is trading higher on word of a John Paulson stake being taken this morning, although it is not up as much as you might think..

Human Genome Sciences Inc. (HGSI) is trading down as the hopes of a merger may be dimming at least some….

Immunomedics Inc. (NASDAQ: IMMU) is surging massively on lupus results.

Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ: ENER) is trading down about 4% after bumbling its earnings.

Vonage Holdings Corporation (NYSE: VG) may be petering out, but we gave some pivot points to watch today.

We apologize if any of these links are slow to load or if the links time out.  We are upgrading the servers for this after strong demand and this should be resolved momentarily.  If you wish to be notified by email when the top day trader alerts hit, along with news of IPO’s, key offerings, guru investor data on Buffett and others, mergers, and more, you can join our open email distribution list which goes out several times per week.

-The 24/7 Wall Street Team

Top Analyst Downgrades (ASH, CSIQ, CMM, VALE, ENER, SPWRA)

These are the early analyst upgrades and downgrades seen from Wall Street analysts early this Tuesday morning:

Ashland (ASH) Cut to Neutral at Susquehanna.
Canadian Solar (CSIQ) Cut to Neutral at Macquarie.
China MAss Media (CMM) Cut to Neutral at B of A Merrill Lynch.
Companhia Vale do Rio (VALE) Cut to Underperform at HSBC.
Energy Conversion (ENER) Cut to Underperform at Macquarie.
SunPower (SPWRA) Cut to Underperform at Macquarie.

JON C. OGG

Analysts Duel Over Solar Stocks (ASTI, CSUN, ENER, ESLR, FSLR, SFUN, STP, SPWRA, YGE)

solar-panel-picJefferies has made some key downgrades in the solar sector this morning.  There are few other calls that were upgrades from rival firms, but the downgrade seems to be more front and center as it was a sector call.

Ascent Solar (NASDAQ:ASTI) Cut to Underperform at Jefferies.
China Sunergy (NASDAQ:CSUN) Cut to Underperform at Jefferies.
Energy Conversion (NASDAQ:ENER) Cut to Underperform at Jefferies.
Evergreen Solar (NASDAQ: ESLR) Cut to Underperform at Jefferies.
First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR) Cut to Hold at Jefferies.
SolarFun Power (NASDAQ: SFUN) Cut to Underperform at Jefferies.
SunPower (NASDAQ: SPWRA) Raised to Buy at Merriman Curhan Ford; Cut to Hold at Jefferies.
Suntech Power (NYSE: STP) Cut to Underperform at Jefferies; Cut to Neutral at Cowen.
Yingli Green Energy (NYSE: YGE) Raised to Overweight at HSBC.

JON C. OGG
AUGUST 21, 2009

SunPower Surprise Leads Solar Shares Higher (SPWRA, FSLR, STP, ENER)

Solar Panel PicSunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWRA) has managed to do what many were not expecting.  It blew the doors off of estimates.  Non-GAAP operating income for the quarter was $26.8 million, or $0.24 EPS.  Its revenues came in at $298 million, up from $214 million in Q1 but down from $383 million a year ago.  We had estimates pegged from Thomson Reuters at $0.14 EPS and $263.25 million in revenues.  It is also giving some solid guidance.  This is going to give a good hard boost for other larger solar players like First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR), Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (STP), and Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ: ENER)