Solar Stocks Short Interest: Geography Matters (CSIQ, FSLR, GTAT, WFR, SPWR, JASO, LDK, STP, TSL, YGE)
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…
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
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
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.