Posts for Ticker ‘PEIX’

Russell Booting Out Speculative Energy Stocks in Rebalances (AXAS, AKNS, AEZ, KAZ, CPE, CFW, CPST, DBLE, EXXI, FTK, GGR, GMET, GRH, TMR, MIND, NCOC, PEIX, QRCP, RAME, TIV, TRMA)

burning-money-picThis year is going to mark a significant change in the Russell rebalance and reconstitution at end of June.  Now that oil and other energy related commodities have been cut in half from the year ago highs, we are seeing a significant number of the smaller cap and more speculative companies tied to energy.  This is the list of companies which is getting the boot off of the Russell 3000 alone:

Delete    ABRAXAS PETROLEUM CORP. (AXAS)
Delete    AKEENA SOLAR INC. (AKNS)
Delete    AMERICAN OIL & GAS INC. (AEZ)
Delete    BMB MUNAI INC. (KAZ)
Delete    CALLON PETROLEUM (CPE)
Delete    CANO PETROLEUM INC. (CFW)
Delete    CAPSTONE TURBINE CORP. (CPST)
Delete    DOUBLE EAGLE PETROLEUM (DBLE)
Delete    ENERGY XXI (BERMUDA) LTD. (EXXI)
Delete    FLOTEK INDS INC. (FTK)
Delete    GEOGLOBAL RESOURCES INC. (GGR)
Delete    GEOMET INC. (GMET)
Delete    GREENHUNTER ENERGY INC. (GRH)
Delete    MERIDIAN RESOURCE CORP. (TMR)
Delete    MITCHAM INDUSTRIES INC. (MIND)
Delete    NATIONAL COAL CORP (NCOC)
Delete    PACIFIC ETHANOL INC. (PEIX)
Delete    QUEST RESOURCE CORP. (QRCP)
Delete    RAM ENERGY RESOURCES INC (RAME)
Delete    TRI-VALLEY CORP (TIV)
Delete    TRICO MARINE SERVICES (TRMA)

There will be updates to this list today and next Friday with the final decision list posted on Monday, June 29.  Of course, that means that some of these deletions might not get deleted in the final list.  A couple were tied to alternative energy in our minds, but were listed by Russell  as ‘consumer’ or ‘producer durables’ rather than in the broad “energy” group.

Jon C. Ogg

Posted on: June 19, 2009 – 7:44 am in Alternative Energy, Commodities, Index, Oil & Gas, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Pacific Ethanol, Another Ethanol Play Near Bankruptcy (PEIX)

Burning Money PicPacific Ethanol Inc. (PEIX) is still alive.  That is more than many ethanol companies can say.  The question is how long it can manage to survive.  After the open this morning, Pacific Ethanol filed a non-timely 10-Q with some basic data on the company’s first quarter results as far as what it expects.  It also comes with an ominous warning for shareholders.
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Posted on: May 12, 2009 – 9:03 am in Alternative Energy, Earnings,

Pacific Ethanol Going Down? (PEIX)

burning-money-pic1Once the darling of investors Vinod Khosla and Bill Gates, Pacific Ethanol, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEIX) is now trading at just 5% of its share price one year ago. The company has just received a month’s grace period from its as it continues to seek new loans. Any takers?

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Posted on: March 2, 2009 – 9:35 am in Alternative Energy, Green Biz, Trading Alert,

The 52-Week Low Club (HOV)(KIDS)(BLDP)(PEIX)

Sad_clownHovnanian (HOV) News on housing prices pushes homebuilder down. Drops to $1.56 from 52-week high of $13.50.

Parent (KIDS) Files for Chapter 11. Sells down to $.05 from 52-week high of $6.43.

Ballard Power Systems (BLDP) Court ruling hurts shareholders. Plunges to $1.25 from 52-week high of $5.71.

Pacific Ethanol (PEIX) No news. Alternative energy stocks continue ride down. Moves off to $.41 from 52-week high of $9.20.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted on: December 30, 2008 – 6:58 pm in HI/LOW, , , ,

NASDAQ Offers Life To Hundreds of Stocks (NDAQ, CHTR, FNSR, LVLT, OPWV, PEIX, PWAV, PWAV, RFMD, SANM, SIRI, SPSN)

Money_stack_pic_4Nasdaq_logoThe NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:NDAQ) is making it easier for the army of relatively new penny stocks to maintain their listings on NASDAQ.  The exchange filed with the SEC to extend its suspension of the rules requiring a minimum $1.00 bid price and its minimum market value of publicly held shares.  This was initially set to expire in January, but the terms will now be extended until Monday, April 20, 2009.  With as many stocks that have violated that $1.00 mark in recent weeks and months, this is hardly a surprise and it would even go against the exchange’s own interests to boot this many stocks off the exchange.

We ran a screen for NASDAQ stocks with active trading volume, share prices under $1.00, and those which have traded over $1.00 in the last 52-weeks.  Some of the most usual suspects here are as follows:

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Posted on: December 19, 2008 – 10:26 am in Cult Stock, Exchange News, Small Cap Stocks, Trading Alert, , , , , , , , , , ,

Ethanol News From All Over (PEIX, AVR, JAVA)

Pacific_ethanol_logoThe news on the ethanol front this morning is, shall we say, mixed. First, Pacific Ethanol (NASDAQ:PEIX) announced yesterday that it would increase its non-cash impairment charge for the suspended construction of its plant in California’s Imperial Valley. The company took a third-quarter charge of $26.6 million, but will issue updated financials upping the charge by $14.3 million less estimated future undiscounted cash flows. The effect, according to the company, will be an increase in future non-cash gains "to the extent the company is discharged from its construction-related liabilities." Shares are up nearly 2%, to $0.7127, on the news.

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Posted on: November 18, 2008 – 10:41 am in Alternative Energy, Oil & Gas, , ,

Pacific Ethanol Follows the Fold (PEIX, VSE, AVR)

Pacific_ethanol_logoPacific Ethanol (NASDAQ:PEIX) reported third quarter numbers this morning and any resemblance to VeraSun and Aventine (NYSE:AVR) is purely familial. Pacific had revenue of $184 million, compared with analysts’ estimates of $219 million, and an EPS loss of $0.98, compared with estimates of $0.16. It’s hard to imagine how it could have been worse.

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Posted on: November 10, 2008 – 10:41 am in Alternative Energy, Earnings, Oil & Gas, , ,

ADM Shows Issues in Corn vs. Crude (ADM, VSE, APC, HOC, PEIX, AVR)

Adm_logoThis morning’s earnings report from Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) offers proof that if a company is going to be in the ethanol business, it had better have a fallback position.  ADM blew past analysts’ estimates of $0.69 per share and $15.98 billion in revenue, hitting EPS of $1.63 on revenue of $21.16 billion. Both figures are more than double those for the same period last year.

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Posted on: November 4, 2008 – 10:36 am in Agriculture, Alternative Energy, Earnings, Trading Alert, , , , , ,

As Verasun (VSE) Goes Chapter 11, The Ethanol Industry Faces Serial Failures

95129cThe most prominent ethanol energy company in the US, Verasun (VSE), is filing for Chapter 11. Among other things the firm has been pinched by falling oil prices, which make ethanol less attractive, and rising corn prices, which makes production more expensive.

When oil was at $147 a barrel, ethanol was a savior for car and truck drivers everywhere.

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Posted on: November 1, 2008 – 7:11 am in Alternative Energy, , ,

The Burning Man Visits Ethanol (PEIX, AVR, VSE)

BurningmoneyEthanol stocks have been getting pounded since their IPOs and the sector has lost its luster.  Pacific Ethanol Inc. (NASDAQ:PEIX) was the exception for a while as it has Bill Gates as an investor ahead of the great ethanol boom.  But share prices for Aventine Renewable Energy Holdings (NYSE:AVR) and VeraSun Energy Corp. (NYSE:VSE) have fallen so far from their IPO prices that if you looked at a chart without a time period attached you might assume you were looking at any dot-com flame-out from 2000 to 2002. The bloom was off the rose from the beginning.

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Posted on: October 31, 2008 – 9:21 am in Alternative Energy, , ,

Ethanol Wars: Xethanol Vs. Pacific & VeraSun (XNL, PEIX, VSE)

After the market closed yesterday, Xethanol Corporation (AMEX:XNL) announced that a Federal Court had approved the settlement Xethanol had reached in a class action suit alleging that the company had misled investors. The settlement was reached in November 2007, and will cost the company $400,000. Xethanol’s insurer will pay $2.4 million plus up to $300,000 in legal costs.

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Posted on: October 9, 2008 – 10:24 am in Alternative Energy, , ,

Energy Watch Part I: Alternative Energy’s Biggest Losers (HYDG, NBF, BIOF, PEIX, XNL)

We have been reviewing which publicly traded energy companies have lost the most value in the past year, and we are breaking these down by sector and by sub-sector. While composing this list is not particularly amusing, it does give an us an idea of what’s happening in the energy business. The days of throwing darts at a group of energy stocks are seeming to be farther and farther in the past as investors seem to be looking at quality more than evvery after turbulent times. Today’s installment looks at alternative energy.

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Posted on: August 13, 2008 – 9:15 am in Alternative Energy, , , , ,

VeraSun Proves It: Size Matters (VSE, PEIX, AVR)

Verasun_logoVeraSun Energy (NYSE:VSE) reported second quarter 2008 earnings before the market opened today. The company’s revenues soared by 499% to $1.015 billion, compared with $170 million for the same period in 2007. Net earnings also increased to $24 million (EPS of $0.15) from $15 million a year ago. Analysts estimated earnings of $0.02 EPS on revenues of $924 million.

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Posted on: August 12, 2008 – 8:28 am in Alternative Energy, Earnings, , ,

Coal is Hot, Ethanol is Not (PEIX, NRP)

Pacific_ethanol_logoPacific Ethanol (NASDAQ:PEIX) led off its second quarter financial report with higher sales number. Unfortunately, the company also had to report earnings, or the lack of earnings. For the quarter, Pacific reported a net loss of $8.3 million (-$0.23 EPS). That was nearly double analysts’ average estimate of a -$0.12 EPS loss. Even the net sales figure of $198 million (up 74% year-over-year) fell short of estimates of $206.16 million. Sales volume and average sales price both increased. So what happened?

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Posted on: August 11, 2008 – 9:01 am in Alternative Energy, Commodities, Earnings, Oil & Gas, ,

Goldman Sachs Pans Ethanol (AVR, PEIX, VSE)

In coverage this morning, Goldman Sachs has come out and reiterated the firm’s Cautious analyst coverage view for the corn-based ethanol producers.  Specifically, the firm has reiterated its "SELL" ratings on:

  • Aventine Renewable Energy (NYSE: AVR),
  • Pacific Ethanol NASDAQ: PEIX),
  • and VeraSun Energy (NYSE: VSE).

The firm notes that corn markets are already short of supply already tight and that spot prices are now much higher because of the Midwest flooding.  It also noted that the next big ramp-up in ethanol capacity will keep pressure on ethanol equities.

As part of this call, Goldman Sachs made wider loss projections for PEIX in 2008 and 2009 and now sees losses rather than gains in VSE as well.  The interesting part of the call besides the reiterated Sell rating is that Goldman Sachs actually now sees a gain in AVR and less of an earnings drop-off in 2009 as a result of likely decelerated plant expansion plans.

Jon C. Ogg
June 27, 2008

Posted on: June 27, 2008 – 6:27 am in Alternative Energy, Analyst Calls, , ,

Oppenheimer’s Lack of Enthusiasm for Ethanol (AVR, PEIX, VSE)

Oppenheimer has initiated coverage of the down and out US-ethanol sector, and the group was given a lackluster "Perform" rating.

"Perform" ratings have been assigned to Aventine Renewable Energy (NYSE: AVR), Pacific Ethanol (NASDAQ: PEIX), and VeraSun Energy (NYSE: VSE).

With most of these stocks down by two-thirds or more from their 52-week highs, this won’t help a beleaguered sector.  If you watch SEC filings, you will have probably seen that Bill Gates’ Cascade fund has been selling more and more of those Pacific Ethanol positions (although he took most funds out long ago).

With the exception of the farmers and businesses that this is helping out, it becomes very difficult to find people who still believe the US-based ethanol program does any good other than helping boost the cost of agriculture. 

As we have maintained: "If Iowa wasn’t the first state on the presidential election circus, ethanol would be handled far differently."

Jon C. Ogg
April 25, 2008

Posted on: April 25, 2008 – 6:39 am in Alternative Energy, Analyst Calls, , ,

Archer-Daniels-Midland Set For Earnings (ADM, VSE, PEIX, AVR)

On Monday, we’ll get to see earnings out of Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. (NYSE:ADM). The estimates from First Call for the agriculture giant are $0.74 EPS on $12.65 Billion in revenues.  Estimates for fiscal June 2008 are $2.70 EPS on $52.27 billion in revenues.

Analysts have an average price target of $47. If Friday’s closing prices are any indicator and if the earnings were coming out immediately, it appears that options traders would be pricing in a move of up to $2.00 in either direction.

We’ve covered this one before, although we were skeptical of any buyout rumor.  We still are, although a buyer would have done well in the stock. As a $29 Billion company and one of the larger beneficiaries of ethanol, we’d be watching some of the other ethanol stocks like Andersons Inc (NASDAQ: ANDE), Aventine Renewable Energy, Inc. (NYSE: AVR), Cosan Limited (NYSE:CZZ), BioFuel Energy Corp. (NASDAQ: BIOF), Pacific Ethanol (NASDAQ: PEIX), US BioEnergy Corporation (NASDAQ:USBE), VeraSun Energy Corp (NYSE: VSE), and others.

Archer-Daniels-Midland’s 52-week trading range is $31.28 to $47.33.

Jon C. Ogg
February 2, 2008

Posted on: February 2, 2008 – 9:50 am in Agriculture, Alternative Energy, Earnings, Food, , , ,

Goldman Sachs Remains Cautous on Ethanol (AVR, PEIX, VSE)

Goldman Sachs lowered its estimates in the ethanol alternative energy patch this morning. This estimate cut is after the Energy Bill has higher CAFE standards that actually makes no change to its bullish call over 3 to 5 years for crude oil and refining.  Goldman Sachs said it retains its cautious views in ethanol with a moderated outlook.  The new bill reduces some near-term downside risks for ethanol crush spreads and ethanol equities but also moderates intermediate upside.  Goldman Sachs now sees an $0.80/gallon crush spread for 2008 to 2011 on higher corn.

Goldman Sachs noted with Pacific Ethanol (PEIX) and VeraSun Energy (VSE) trading above its upwardly revised 12-month targets it maintains a sell rating on both.  Aventine Renewable (AVR) remains neutral.

Aventine (AVR) fiscal estimates trimmed to $0.46 EPS from $0.50; estimates raised for following fiscal year..
Pacific Ethanol (PEIX) estimates trimmed to -$0.22 EPS from -$0.19; estimates raised for following fiscal year.
VeraSun (VSE) estimates trimmed to $0.02 EPS from $0.12; estimates raised for following fiscal year.

Jon C. Ogg
December 20, 2007

Posted on: December 20, 2007 – 7:33 am in Alternative Energy, Analyst Calls, , ,

Ethanol Downgrades Keep Coming (AVR, PEIX, VSE)

If you watch our daily hits on stocks that are hitting 52-week lows, then you know by now that ethanol stocks get kicked almost daily.  Today is no different as Goldman Sachs has cut earnings estimates out of three usual suspects on corn-based ethanol and now projects some actual EPS losses instead of positive earnings in 2008.

  • Aventine Renewable (AVR) current year cut from $0.95 EPS to $0.76 EPS; next year cut from $0.55 EPS down to -$0.15 EPS.
  • Pacific Ethanol (PEIX) current year cut from $0.16 EPS to $0.05; next year cut from $0.35 EPS to -$0.35.
  • Verasun (VSE) current year cut from $0.46 EPS to $0.35; next year cut from $0.70 EPS to $0.15 EPS.

The cut estimates reflects a continued cautious rating on the sector as Goldman Sachs believes a long anticipated oversupply has arrived.  They note that ethanol capacity growth needs to come to a halt and existing capacity needs to run at lower utilization rates.

Goldman Sachs says its earnings projections are now significantly under First Call estimates.  Does that mean even more downgrades on the way from other research firms that have already cut them?  We have had a serious concern for some time about corn-based ethanol in the US.  Other ethanol is profitable elsewhere and without the subsidy this sub-sector of the industry would likely have some viability issues.  This is also a very political topic and the argument could be tossed up that if Iowa primaries weren’t so important that this would be deemed as snake oil.

Articles of interest:

Jon C. Ogg
September 27, 2007

Posted on: September 27, 2007 – 7:36 am in Alternative Energy, Analyst Calls, Oil & Gas, , , , , ,

The 52-Week Low Club

Circuit City (CC) After announcing weak financials, can’t get off the list. Down to $8.07 from 52-week high of $29.31.

Standard Pacific (SPF) California homebuilder said it would stop paying a quarterly dividend and instead use the estimated $10 million a year to pay down debt. Drops to $6.86 from 52-week high of $30.52.

Lennar Corporation (LEN) Another housing stock. Down to $24.05 from 52-week high of $56.54.

McClatchy Newspapers (MNI) Newspaper chains continue move down. Drops to $20.01 from 52-week high of $44.95.

Nortel Networks (NT) Recent analyst report says no turnaround soon. Shares down to $15.80 from 52-week high of $31.79.

Sonus (SNUS) Drug trial fails. Drops to $.65 from 52-week high of $6.32.

Pacific Ethanol (PEIX)  Ethanol prices are down about a third over the last few months. Shares fall to $8.94 from 52-week high of $19.80.

Posted on: September 24, 2007 – 3:02 pm in HI/LOW, , , , , , ,