Chinese solar maker JA Solar Holdings Co., Ltd. (NASDAQ: JASO) reported first quarter results yesterday. The company posted earnings per ADS of $0.41, better than analysts’ estimates of $0.32. Revenue rose 91% year-over-year, to $556.4 million, compared with estimates of $552 million. The company’s margins shrunk, however, from 23% a year ago to 17.3%, and there are concerns that margins will shrink further for the rest of this year.

Trina Solar Ltd. (NYSE: TSL) did not report earnings yesterday, but did lower its guidance for the quarter ended in March. Shipments are expected to fall from an earlier estimate of more than 351 megawatts to 320-322 megawatts. The company did predict that margins would be slightly better than expected, up from 30% to 32%-32.5%. For the full year, Trina reiterated shipment guidance of 1,750-1,800 megawatts, up from last year by about 66%-70%. Trina reports first quarter results on May 17th.

The really bad news in solar PV came from Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ: ENER), which reported its fiscal third-quarter results yesterday. Revenue fell -70% from the same period a year ago, to $21.5 million compared with analysts’ estimates of $35.2 million. Excluding a one-time impairment charge of $223 million, the company posted an EPS loss of -$0.41, better than Street expectations for an EPS loss of -$0.48.

The bad news just kept rolling for the company though. It said that it plans to cut 300 jobs, about 20% of its workforce and that the company president has resigned. Interim CEO Jay Knoll, the company’s general counsel, noted that changes in European solar incentives had and will continue to have a serious impact on the company’s business.

Knoll is an interesting choice as interim CEO. He was general counsel for auto parts maker Collins & Aikman Corp. when that company filed for bankruptcy in 2005. Five of the company’s officers, not including Knoll, settled a fraud investigation by the SEC for more than $7.4 million. Most of the payment came from David Stockman, the company’s CEO and chairman, and one-time budget director for President Ronald Reagan.  Stockman was later cleared of all criminal charges.

If Knoll assumes a permanent role as the company’s CEO, then one might conclude that a bankruptcy filing would not be far off. If another CEO is brought on board, the company may decide to try to stick it out. This one is worth watching.

Energy Conversion Devices’ shares are up more than 2.5% in early trading, at $1.54, still near the bottom of the company’s 52-week range of $1.48-$7.15. That low was set yesterday.

The US Department of Energy has stopped taking loan guarantee applications for financing new alt energy projects. The DOE has issued guarantees of about $1.6 billion for 19 different projects so far, and has about $800 billion left to allocate to projects that can close guarantees and start construction by September 30th. Both First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) and SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWRA) have received conditional guarantees totalling about $2.6 billion. Solar-panel maker Ascent Solar Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: ASTI) withdrew an application last month.

Biofuel start-up Verdezyne, Inc. has closed another round of venture funding. The company did not specify the amount raised, but did say that it landed investments from BP plc (NYSE: BP) and Dutch biochemical firm DSM. The new funding is expected to help get Verdezyne through another two years of development, including the construction of two pilot plants to produce bioethanol and adipic acid, a polymer substitute.

BP purchased the biofuels portion of Verenium Corp. (NASDAQ: VRNM) last year for $98 million. The recent announcement by Total SA (NYSE: TOT) that it would acquire a 60% stake in SunPower could have started the ball rolling (again) for new investments by major energy companies in fledgling biofuels ventures.

Paul Ausick

LDK Solar Co., Ltd. (NYSE: LDK) reports earnings after markets close today, and analysts are estimating EPS $0.85 and $783.87 million in revenues. Estimates for next quarter are $0.70 EPS and $801.64 million in revenues.  Shares closed at $10.31 last Friday, within a 52-week range of $4.97 to $15.10.

Chinese battery maker Advanced Battery Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: ABAT) is also scheduled to report earnings after markets close today, but that’s not the company’s biggest issue. The company is the target of a report by Prescience Investment Group that states that ABAT is “fabricating its SEC financial statements.” Thomson Reuters has estimates for EPS of $0.10 on revenue of $32.47 million. Estimates for next quarter are for EPS of $0.11 on revenue of $35.81 million. The stock closed at $1.46 last Friday, and came with a penny of matching its 52-week low this morning. The 52-week range is $1.33-$4.35.

Real Goods Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: RSOL) is a solar PV integrator and system installer. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.00 on revenue of $18.33 million after markets close today. Estimates for next quarter are EPS of $0.03 on revenue of $23.73 million. The stock closed at $2.45 on Friday and is currently trading at $2.50, near the bottom of its 52-week range of $2.25-$4.80.

Another battery maker, A123 Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: AONE), is expected to report an EPS loss of -$0.46 on revenue of $18.16 million after markets close today. Estimates for next quarter are for an EPS loss of -$0.39 on revenue of $38.43 million. Shares closed on Friday at $5.74, within a 52-week range of $5.21-$11.53. The shares are up about 1% this morning, at $5.80.

Clean Energy Fuels Corp. (NASDAQ: CLNE), the T. Boone Pickens company that offers a compressed natural gas alternative to gasoline engines, reports earnings after markets close today. Analysts expect an EPS loss of -$0.09 on revenue of $66.90 million. Estimates for next quarter include an EPS loss of -$0.06 on revenue of $73.46 million. Shares closed at $15.39 on Friday, within a 52-week range of $11.75-$19.36. Shares are down slightly this morning, at $15.35.

Solazyme is different from companies like Codexis, Inc. (NASDAQ: CDXS), Amyris, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMRS), Gevo, Inc. (NASDAQ: GEVO), and Verenium Corp. (NASDAQ: VRNM), which depend on photosynthesis in algae to convert sugars to useful oils. Solazyme’s process involves fermentation of sugars then basically squeezing the oil out of the algae. In the photosynthesis process, the algae excrete oil into a pond and then the water is processed to extract the oil. Solazyme’s process is faster and cheaper.

All these companies depend on genetic modification to create enzymes to convert sugars from feedstocks like sugar cane, corn, and cellulose into oils. All the processes produce oil — the trick is to maintain a decent cost structure and then to get the process up to scale.

The only large consumer to step up to the plate for biofuels is the US government. Both the US Navy and the US Air Force have conducted tests with biofuel blends and both have declared the tests successful.

While the biofuels can reduce carbon emissions by up to 85% over petroleum-based products, the is no other benefit to the Navy and the Air Force, according to a study published by the RAND Corporation earlier this year.  RAND points out that biofuels don’t make ships or planes operate better in any way.

The other problem, of course is scale. The only process that can supply large quantities of an alternative fuel is the tried-and-true Fischer-Tropsch gas- or coal-to-liquids technology that has been around since the 1920′s.

And lower carbon emissions. Here’s what RAND says: “Fuel use in tactical systems represents less than 1 percent of U.S. energy-related emissions of greenhouse gases. The greater benefit, again, would result if early use of alternative fuels by the Defense Department were to accelerate the use of alternative fuels in the much larger civilian marketplace.”

For Solazyme and the other algae-to-oil companies, short- and medium-term returns will have to come from someplace besides fuel. And while nutritional supplements, cosmetics, and drugs are large markets, they have neither the size and scope of the energy business.

The company does have non-binding agreements to provide millions of liters of its biofuel to a variety of buyers, providing it can produce enough of the stuff. From January 2010 through February 2011, Solazyme produced 500,000 liters of oil.

The four existing biofuels companies have had mixed success, with only Amyris showing a substantial gain since it has become a public company. But with crude oil above $100/barrel, a company like Solazyme that has demonstrated some success and some ability to scale could be a best seller.

Paul Ausick

FULL Solazyme S-1 Filing Here

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) is trading lower after Bank of America/Merrill Lynch cut the rating to NEUTRAL from BUY.  Shares are down 2.3% at $120.40 on over 60,000 shares, but the stock was challenging $119 earlier.

Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARNA) is up as a VIVUS-FDA side trade stock.  Shares are up 10% at $4.72 on over 300,000 shares.

BP plc (NYSE: BP) is down about 1% this morning after it delayed well-cap tests at the Gulf of Mexico disaster until later Wednesday.  This morning the oil flows freely.

NBTY Inc. (NYSE: NTY) is surging by 44% to $54.12 after receiving a $3 billion takeover from private equity for the vitamin and supplements operation.  We have already seen close to 6 million shares traded.

Orexigen Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: OREX) is also trading higher on the VIVUS drug class tie ahead of its FDA panel decision today.  Shares are up 2.4% at $5.69 on almost 30,000 shares.

Verenium Corporation (NASDAQ: VRNM) is trading up massively after getting a biofuels deal for $98 million for its units from BP.  This was a $30 million company, and shares were up 81% at $4.47 on 20,000 shares.

VIVUS, Inc. (NASDAQ: VVUS) SHARES ARE HALTED…. The company has its Qnexa FDA panel decision due today… stay tuned.

JON C. OGG

Symantec Corp. (Nasdaq: SYMC) shares are getting hammered as the most active premarket issue on very poor earnings and metrics..

Akamai Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq: AKAM) down sharply on heavy volume after it missed expctations and guided lower for Q3.

Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) shares are falling after poor earnings on lower revenue amid weaker demand.

Verenium Corp. (Nasdaq: VRNM) shres are one of the top percentage gainers on fairly strong volume on a BP cellulosic ethanol venture.

Ariad Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq: ARIA) shares continue to climb on strong premarket volume, amid optimism for its drug pipeline.

American Axle & Manufacturing Holding Inc. (NYSE: AXL) shares are up strongly on discussions with lenders.

Trico Marine Services Inc. (TRMA) are one of the more uncommon premarket gainers, after it beat EPS expectations by 23 cents a share.

-The 24/7 Wall St. Team

The best performing company, Ener1, is down ‘only’ by just under half.  Just the sort of group one might turn to for advice on how to make money in the cleantech industry.  If any of these companies can get that Obama spending money for green business efforts, they better be on that track now.

You can go to the full list of presentations at the ThinkEquity conference if you choose.

Paul Ausick
March 25, 2009

Beacon Power Corporation (NASDAQ: BCON) was supposed to be one of the fly-wheel winners in advanced battery technologies.  It also recently took a hit after it raised cash.  Yet the annual report yesterday said that the company will need to raise more cash to satisfy “Our continuation as a going concern.”  That doesn’t mean it is there quite yet, but it does need funding from 2009 to 2011.

Environmental Power Corporation (NASDAQ: EPG) develops, owns, and operates renewable energy production facilities in the United States.  Its annual report noted a going concern as well, yet the company said it is pursuing a number of financing avenues.  The leash looks pretty short as it said it “hopes to obtain the financing it requires by the end of the first half of 2009.”

Verenium Corporation (NASDAQ: VRNM) is down over 10% this morning at $0.345.  The cellulosic ethanol and high-performance specialty enzymes developer disclosed the going concern note.

Let’s hope that if these firms head to D.C. with their hat in hand to ask President Obama for money that they don’t fly a private jet.

JON C. OGG

The 50-50 deal will cost each company $22.5 million at the outset, and lead ultimately to breaking ground in 2010 for a $250 million-$300 million plant. Production is scheduled to start in 2012. The JV also would develop a second plant in the Gulf Coast region at some unspecified date. The JV’s initial focus will be “developing and securing financing” for the first plant.

The US generates about 1 billion tons of cellulosic material every year that could be used to make ethanol. If 40% were used in this way, the US could manufacture 40 billion gallons of fuel a year. The US currently consumes about 140 billion gallons of gasoline a year, so the amount is not trivial.

BP is also working with EI DuPont de Nemours & Co. (NYSE:DD) on the development of a biofuel manufactured from excess low-grade sugar that the two companies call biobutanol. Biobutanol contains about 95% of the energy present in gasoline, whereas cellulosic and corn-based ethanol contain about 75% of the energy. Biobutanol also has the advantage of being compatible with the nation’s existing pipeline system, whereas ethanol requires a separate, new pipeline infrastructure.

The JV between BP and Verenium takes advantage of Verenium’s technology and BP’s ability to build to scale. Of course 36 million gallons is a far cry from 40 billion, but its a lot closer than the test tube quantities of biobutanol.

In either case, though, until the economy improves and crude prices rise, investment in new fuels like cellulosic ethanol or biobutanol will be constrained. All the tax incentives and subsidies in the world won’t change that.

Paul Ausick
February 19, 2009

• Home Depot (HD) Started as Outperform at FBR.
• Illumina (ILMN) Started as Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
• McAfee (MFE) Started as Buy at American Technology & Research.
• Navistar (NAV) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
• OfficeMax (OMX) Started as Outperform at FBR.
• Van Kampe Dynamic Credit Fund (VTA) Started as Perform at Oppenheimer.
• Verenium (VRNM) Started as Buy at Lazard.
• Waters Corp. (WAT) Started as Overweight at Morgan Stanley.

Jon C. Ogg
September 5, 2008

Of this $45 million will be available to Verenium in the next 12 monthsand upon closing it will receive $24.5 million.  Thereafter Vereniumwill receive $2.5 million per.  The companies are expected to negotiatea second phase contract for beyond the 18 months target dates.

We have still seen under 10,000 shares trade so far pre-market, but thelast trade showed a gain of 33% to $2.70 this morning.  The currentindications are slightly higher than that.

Its 52-week trading range is $1.05 to $6.95, so it isn’t as though thisis a low-volatility stock.  On average days it trades about 426,000shares, although the thin volume pre-market is high because it rarelytrades any in the pre-market and after-hours trading sessions.

Jon C. Ogg
August 6, 2008