Solar Stocks Short Interest: Geography Matters (CSIQ, FSLR, GTAT, WFR, SPWR, JASO, LDK, STP, TSL, YGE)

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By Paul Ausick Published

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We tracked the short interest in the following North American solar companies: Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSIQ), First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR), GT Advanced Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: GTAT), MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. (NYSE: WFR) 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 fall 0.4% to 3.72 million shares, 12.3% of the company’s total float.

First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) short interest fell 8% to 29.3 million shares, which represents 48.8% of the company’s float.

GT Advanced Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: GTAT) showed a decline of 5.1% in short interest, to 27.7 million shares, about 23.5% of GT’s float.

MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. (NYSE: WFR) showed a drop of 14.2% in short interest, to 23.9 million shares, about 10.4% of MEMC’s float.

Sunpower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWR) saw short interest fall 2.3% to 4.4 million shares, 11.2% of the company’s total float.

JA Solar Holdings Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ: JASO) showed a gain of 0.4% in short interest, to 10.07 million shares.

LDK Solar Co. Inc. (NYSE: LDK) saw short interest drop 3.9% to 10 million shares.

Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (NYSE: STP) showed a rise of 1.1% in short interest, to 17.8 million shares.

Trina Solar Ltd. (NYSE: TSL) saw short interest rise 7% to 13 million shares.

Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. Ltd. (NYSE: YGE) showed a rise of 4.2% in short interest, to 6.3 million shares.

The interesting thing to note here is that all but one of the Chinese solar makers saw a rise in short interest, and all the North American-based companies saw a drop. This could be a reaction to the new tariffs on Chinese imports, but a better explanation is that the Chinese makers continue to kid themselves into believing that all their overcapacity can be soaked up somehow.

Paul Ausick

Photo of Paul Ausick
About the Author Paul Ausick →

Paul Ausick has been writing for 247Wallst.com for more than a decade. He has written extensively on investing in the energy, defense, and technology sectors. In a previous life, he wrote technical documentation and managed a marketing communications group in Silicon Valley.

He has a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Chicago and now lives in Montana, where he fishes for trout in the summer and stays inside during the winter.

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