Content on this page requires a newer version of Adobe Flash Player.
More on FSLR 4 Green-Energy Stocks to Buy and HoldTop Three Solar Stocks for Earnings SeasonBulls See Stocks Up for a 4th Straight Week Market Activity First Solar Inc.| FSLR Power-One Inc.| PWER SunPower Corporation| SPWRA NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- A solar analyst recently quipped that an investor would have to be a Darwin Award winner to expect bad results from solar companies in the third quarter. Just look at the results from the MAC Global Solar Index (above), which highlights the strong comeback of solar from June's doldrums. When it comes to the U.S. solar companies, though, a blanket expectation for good results and beat and raise numbers isn't necessarily the way to think about trading solar stocks as a rule ahead of earnings. In fact, the four solar companies presented below provide a good way to break down the diverse expectations and issues for earnings season. Good results are certainly expected to be the case with First Solar(FSLR), the solar industry bellwether, which kicks off earnings season with its after-market report on Thursday. It's safe to say its report sets the tone for the entire industry. Some U.S. solar players could post more eye-popping numbers than First Solar, like Power-One(PWER), which also reports on Thursday after the market close. Investors have already been given a preview of the potential third quarter pop in inverter stocks from the recent earning pre-report from SatCon(SATC). First Solar is trading near a 52-week high and the whisper number on Power-One has been going higher. Expectations for these stocks are at a high point, but it's expectations about 2011 that may be the earnings driver. Power-One and its inverter peers have been the big earnings season rally plays in solar over the past two quarters. So the bogey for Power-One won't just be its revenue target, but questions as to whether the mercurial rise of the inverter stocks can be sustained in 2011. Looking ahead to sustaining solar momentum into 2011, though, isn't the case for MEMC Electronic Materials(WFR) and SunPower(SPWRA). These U.S. solar companies still have a lot left to prove to investors about 2010. Both these companies have built in to their earnings expectations execution on key solar project sales in the back-half of 2010. It's put up or shut up time for them, and investors are walking these companies on a short leash, short of proof that the project revenue will be on the books in the second half of the year instead of being pushed out again. At a larger level, sector-level discussion will dominate earnings discussion. One need only look at the Wednesday commentary from Norwegian solar wafer giant REC to gauge the earnings season talking points. REC management said on its earnings conference call that 2011 brings "much more uncertainty...we do expect supply to increase more next year than demand and therefore naturally lower prices." About solar's biggest market, Germany, REC management said, "in Germany, we have had a fantastic year this year but I think it's almost too good to be true that this will continue into next year... so I think we have to be more modest when it comes to the outlook for next year." On recent strength in polysilicon and wafer pricing, REC drew the conclusion that the 2010 bottleneck in silicon -- and to a lesser extent wafers -- will not be extended: "with a 30-40% increase [in supply] as we see next year, we don't think there will be any bottlenecks next year." The REC commentary is solar earnings in a nutshell: short of massive blowout earnings numbers, the outlook on pricing and demand for the coming year and the impact of events in key European markets could trump another good quarter for the solar companies. What follows are some key trends and company-specific issues to watch for in the results to come from the U.S. solar companies. Add Comment Tweet 1 2 3 4 5 Last » Next › var OutbrainPermaLink='http://www.thestreet.com/story/10903324/4-us-solar-stocks-earnings-preview.html'; var OB_Template = "thestreetcom"; var OB_demoMode = false; var OBITm = "1276003897985"; var OB_langJS ='http://widgets.outbrain.com/lang_en.js'; if ( typeof(OB_Script)!='undefined' ) OutbrainStart(); else { var OB_Script = true; var str = ''; document.write(str); } adsonar_placementId=1341527;adsonar_pid=879768;adsonar_ps=-1;adsonar_zw=600;adsonar_zh=280;adsonar_jv='ads.adsonar.com'; Featured Photo Galleries var galljs = document.createElement('script'); galljs.src = 'http://js.thestreet-static.com/files/tsc/v2008/js/_1288214940100/min/pages/gallery.js'; var head = document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0]; head.appendChild(galljs); Go to Slideshow Archive Business News From The Web Case-Shiller: Home Price declines widespread in August Calculated Risk War-hit countries 'most corrupt' BBC ASX Falls as Lawmakers Oppose Singapore Exchange Bid BusinessWeek Online Buffett-Backed BYD Falls After AutomakerâÂ?Â?s Profit Plunges 99% BusinessWeek Online Sony Rises on 'Pure Speculation' of Apple Interest DailyFinance DealBook: What Exactly Is Insider Trading? New York Times Travel Sites Oppose Google Deal The Wall Street Journal. In Bond Frenzy, Investors Bet on Inflation New York Times UK recovery faster than expected BBC UBS Stanches Outflow of Funds The Wall Street Journal. More Headlines TheStreet Premium Services Compare All Services Jim Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS: Now any level of investor can trade right alongside a Wall Street pro — and enjoy 24/7 access to his portfolio! Learn More Login RealMoney Silver: Get Doug Kass's exclusive trading diary + 5 of TheStreet's top premium services including Action Alerts PLUS and RealMoney — all on one streamlined page. Learn More Login Stocks Under $10: Break into the market with small- and mid-cap stocks... all $10 or less! David Peltier tells you exactly which low-priced stocks he's buying and selling. Learn More Login OptionsProfits: Get 50+ trade ideas a week from the industry's top options experts. Plus — exclusive commentary on market trends and essential trading tools. Learn More Login Breakout Stocks: Find tomorrow's household names today. Bryan Ashenberg finds hidden gems in exciting up-and-coming markets that he believes are ready to break out! Learn More Login RealMoney Portfolio PLUS ETF Action Daily Swing Trade Market Movers ETF Shark Alerts TheStreet Ratings Top Gun Trader Top Stocks try { function DM_onSegsAvailable(segs, cust_id) { for(var i=0;i //* Global Functions *// function metadataRegisterNS(ns){ var nsParts = ns.split("."); var root = window; for(var i=0; i Dow Jones S&P 500 NASDAQ 10-Year Note 11,066.83 1,177.88 2,492.00 26.90 Oil * 83.56 DOWN 59.45 DOWN 4.57 DOWN 11.26 DOWN 0.22 10 Yr 2.69% SPDR Gold 130.99 -0.53% -0.39% -0.45% -0.81% Data delayed 20 minutes More From TheStreet function utmx_section(){}function utmx(){} (function(){var k='0275661539',d=document,l=d.location,c=d.cookie;function f(n){ if(c){var i=c.indexOf(n+'=');if(i>-1){var j=c.indexOf(';',i);return c.substring(i+n. length+1,j if(typeof(_gat)!='object')document.write('') try { var gwoTracker=_gat._getTracker("UA-4301613-3"); gwoTracker._trackPageview("/0275661539/test"); }catch(err){} utmx_section("Headline") if(typeof(_gat)!='object')document.write('') try { var gwoTracker=_gat._getTracker("UA-4301613-3"); gwoTracker._trackPageview("/0275661539/goal"); }catch(err){} adsonar_placementId=1341369;adsonar_pid=879768;adsonar_ps=-1;adsonar_zw=320;adsonar_zh=280;adsonar_jv='ads.adsonar.com'; Brokerage Partners YAHOO.util.Event.on(window,"load",function(){ setTimeout(function(){ TSCM.util.attachScript('scr_intellitxt','http://thestreet.us.intellitxt.com/intellitxt/front.asp?ipid=10685'); },1200); }); document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + (document.location.protocol == "https:" ? "https://sb" : "http://b") + ".scorecardresearch.com/beacon.js' %3E%3C/script%3E")); var beaconurl=""; if(TSC.util.isDefined(document)){ beaconurl=document.URL; try{ if (top.location != self.location){ beaconurl=document.referrer; } }catch(e){} } COMSCORE.beacon({ c1:2, c2:"6036014", c3:"", c4:beaconurl, c5:"", c6:"", c15:"" }); (function () { var d = new Image(1, 1); d.onerror = d.onload = function () { d.onerror = d.onload = null; }; d.src = ["//secure-us.imrworldwide.com/cgi-bin/m?ci=us-thestreet&cg=tsc&cc=1&si=", escape(window.location.href), "&rp=", escape(document.referrer), "&ts=compact&rnd=", (new Date()).getTime()].join(''); })(); Free Newsletters from TheStreetAfter the Bell
Before the Bell
Booyah! Newsletter
ETF Daily
Midday Bell
TSC Top Ten Stories Newsletter
Winners & Losers
We respect your privacy. Manage Newsletters Podcasts [Select Podcast] The Real Story Wall Street Confidential Podcast Daily RSS UpdatesTheStreet Mobile Edition
Connect with TheStreet
YAHOO.util.Event.on(window,"load",function() { try { var loginlink = YAHOO.util.Dom.get("logonoff"); var cookie = new UserStatus().streetCookie; if(cookie.indexOf('|')== -1){ loginlink.setAttribute("href",""); loginlink.innerHTML = "Log In"; } } catch(e) {} }); TheStreet Mobile | MainStreet | StockPickr | BankingMyWay | Jim Cramer | Doug Kass | RealMoney | Try Action Alerts PLUS - FREE TheStreet Corporate | Home | About Us | Advertise | Customer Service | Employment | Privacy Policy | Sitemap | Topic Archive | Video Archive | When it comes to the U.S. solar companies, though, a blanket expectation for good results and beat and raise numbers isn't necessarily the way to think about trading solar stocks as a rule ahead of earnings. In fact, the four solar companies presented below provide a good way to break down the diverse expectations and issues for earnings season. Good results are certainly expected to be the case with First Solar(FSLR), the solar industry bellwether, which kicks off earnings season with its after-market report on Thursday. It's safe to say its report sets the tone for the entire industry. Some U.S. solar players could post more eye-popping numbers than First Solar, like Power-One(PWER), which also reports on Thursday after the market close. Investors have already been given a preview of the potential third quarter pop in inverter stocks from the recent earning pre-report from SatCon(SATC). First Solar is trading near a 52-week high and the whisper number on Power-One has been going higher. Expectations for these stocks are at a high point, but it's expectations about 2011 that may be the earnings driver. Power-One and its inverter peers have been the big earnings season rally plays in solar over the past two quarters. So the bogey for Power-One won't just be its revenue target, but questions as to whether the mercurial rise of the inverter stocks can be sustained in 2011. Looking ahead to sustaining solar momentum into 2011, though, isn't the case for MEMC Electronic Materials(WFR) and SunPower(SPWRA). These U.S. solar companies still have a lot left to prove to investors about 2010. Both these companies have built in to their earnings expectations execution on key solar project sales in the back-half of 2010. It's put up or shut up time for them, and investors are walking these companies on a short leash, short of proof that the project revenue will be on the books in the second half of the year instead of being pushed out again. At a larger level, sector-level discussion will dominate earnings discussion. One need only look at the Wednesday commentary from Norwegian solar wafer giant REC to gauge the earnings season talking points. REC management said on its earnings conference call that 2011 brings "much more uncertainty...we do expect supply to increase more next year than demand and therefore naturally lower prices." About solar's biggest market, Germany, REC management said, "in Germany, we have had a fantastic year this year but I think it's almost too good to be true that this will continue into next year... so I think we have to be more modest when it comes to the outlook for next year." On recent strength in polysilicon and wafer pricing, REC drew the conclusion that the 2010 bottleneck in silicon -- and to a lesser extent wafers -- will not be extended: "with a 30-40% increase [in supply] as we see next year, we don't think there will be any bottlenecks next year." The REC commentary is solar earnings in a nutshell: short of massive blowout earnings numbers, the outlook on pricing and demand for the coming year and the impact of events in key European markets could trump another good quarter for the solar companies. What follows are some key trends and company-specific issues to watch for in the results to come from the U.S. solar companies. Add Comment Tweet 1 2 3 4 5 Last » Next › var OutbrainPermaLink='http://www.thestreet.com/story/10903324/4-us-solar-stocks-earnings-preview.html'; var OB_Template = "thestreetcom"; var OB_demoMode = false; var OBITm = "1276003897985"; var OB_langJS ='http://widgets.outbrain.com/lang_en.js'; if ( typeof(OB_Script)!='undefined' ) OutbrainStart(); else { var OB_Script = true; var str = ''; document.write(str); } adsonar_placementId=1341527;adsonar_pid=879768;adsonar_ps=-1;adsonar_zw=600;adsonar_zh=280;adsonar_jv='ads.adsonar.com'; Featured Photo Galleries var galljs = document.createElement('script'); galljs.src = 'http://js.thestreet-static.com/files/tsc/v2008/js/_1288214940100/min/pages/gallery.js'; var head = document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0]; head.appendChild(galljs); Go to Slideshow Archive Business News From The Web Case-Shiller: Home Price declines widespread in August Calculated Risk War-hit countries 'most corrupt' BBC ASX Falls as Lawmakers Oppose Singapore Exchange Bid BusinessWeek Online Buffett-Backed BYD Falls After AutomakerâÂ?Â?s Profit Plunges 99% BusinessWeek Online Sony Rises on 'Pure Speculation' of Apple Interest DailyFinance DealBook: What Exactly Is Insider Trading? New York Times Travel Sites Oppose Google Deal The Wall Street Journal. In Bond Frenzy, Investors Bet on Inflation New York Times UK recovery faster than expected BBC UBS Stanches Outflow of Funds The Wall Street Journal. More Headlines TheStreet Premium Services Compare All Services Jim Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS: Now any level of investor can trade right alongside a Wall Street pro — and enjoy 24/7 access to his portfolio! Learn More Login RealMoney Silver: Get Doug Kass's exclusive trading diary + 5 of TheStreet's top premium services including Action Alerts PLUS and RealMoney — all on one streamlined page. Learn More Login Stocks Under $10: Break into the market with small- and mid-cap stocks... all $10 or less! David Peltier tells you exactly which low-priced stocks he's buying and selling. Learn More Login OptionsProfits: Get 50+ trade ideas a week from the industry's top options experts. Plus — exclusive commentary on market trends and essential trading tools. Learn More Login Breakout Stocks: Find tomorrow's household names today. Bryan Ashenberg finds hidden gems in exciting up-and-coming markets that he believes are ready to break out! Learn More Login RealMoney Portfolio PLUS ETF Action Daily Swing Trade Market Movers ETF Shark Alerts TheStreet Ratings Top Gun Trader Top Stocks try { function DM_onSegsAvailable(segs, cust_id) { for(var i=0;i //* Global Functions *// function metadataRegisterNS(ns){ var nsParts = ns.split("."); var root = window; for(var i=0; i Dow Jones S&P 500 NASDAQ 10-Year Note 11,066.83 1,177.88 2,492.00 26.90 Oil * 83.56 DOWN 59.45 DOWN 4.57 DOWN 11.26 DOWN 0.22 10 Yr 2.69% SPDR Gold 130.99 -0.53% -0.39% -0.45% -0.81% Data delayed 20 minutes More From TheStreet function utmx_section(){}function utmx(){} (function(){var k='0275661539',d=document,l=d.location,c=d.cookie;function f(n){ if(c){var i=c.indexOf(n+'=');if(i>-1){var j=c.indexOf(';',i);return c.substring(i+n. length+1,j if(typeof(_gat)!='object')document.write('') try { var gwoTracker=_gat._getTracker("UA-4301613-3"); gwoTracker._trackPageview("/0275661539/test"); }catch(err){} utmx_section("Headline") if(typeof(_gat)!='object')document.write('') try { var gwoTracker=_gat._getTracker("UA-4301613-3"); gwoTracker._trackPageview("/0275661539/goal"); }catch(err){} adsonar_placementId=1341369;adsonar_pid=879768;adsonar_ps=-1;adsonar_zw=320;adsonar_zh=280;adsonar_jv='ads.adsonar.com'; Brokerage Partners YAHOO.util.Event.on(window,"load",function(){ setTimeout(function(){ TSCM.util.attachScript('scr_intellitxt','http://thestreet.us.intellitxt.com/intellitxt/front.asp?ipid=10685'); },1200); }); document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + (document.location.protocol == "https:" ? "https://sb" : "http://b") + ".scorecardresearch.com/beacon.js' %3E%3C/script%3E")); var beaconurl=""; if(TSC.util.isDefined(document)){ beaconurl=document.URL; try{ if (top.location != self.location){ beaconurl=document.referrer; } }catch(e){} } COMSCORE.beacon({ c1:2, c2:"6036014", c3:"", c4:beaconurl, c5:"", c6:"", c15:"" }); (function () { var d = new Image(1, 1); d.onerror = d.onload = function () { d.onerror = d.onload = null; }; d.src = ["//secure-us.imrworldwide.com/cgi-bin/m?ci=us-thestreet&cg=tsc&cc=1&si=", escape(window.location.href), "&rp=", escape(document.referrer), "&ts=compact&rnd=", (new Date()).getTime()].join(''); })(); Free Newsletters from TheStreetAfter the Bell
Before the Bell
Booyah! Newsletter
ETF Daily
Midday Bell
TSC Top Ten Stories Newsletter
Winners & Losers
We respect your privacy. Manage Newsletters Podcasts [Select Podcast] The Real Story Wall Street Confidential Podcast Daily RSS UpdatesTheStreet Mobile Edition
Connect with TheStreet
YAHOO.util.Event.on(window,"load",function() { try { var loginlink = YAHOO.util.Dom.get("logonoff"); var cookie = new UserStatus().streetCookie; if(cookie.indexOf('|')== -1){ loginlink.setAttribute("href",""); loginlink.innerHTML = "Log In"; } } catch(e) {} }); TheStreet Mobile | MainStreet | StockPickr | BankingMyWay | Jim Cramer | Doug Kass | RealMoney | Try Action Alerts PLUS - FREE TheStreet Corporate | Home | About Us | Advertise | Customer Service | Employment | Privacy Policy | Sitemap | Topic Archive | Video Archive | Terms of Use document.write('© 1996-2010 TheStreet.com, Inc. All rights reserved.TheStreet's enterprise databases running Oracle are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA.
Quotes delayed at least 20 minutes for all exchanges. Market Data provided by Interactive Data. Company fundamental data provided by Morningstar. Earnings and ratings provided by Zacks. Mutual fund data provided by Valueline. ETF data provided by Lipper. Terms & Conditions. Powered and implemented by Interactive Data Managed Solutions.
TheStreet Ratings updates stock ratings daily. However, if no rating change occurs, the data on this page does not update. The data does update after 90 days if no rating change occurs within that time period.
IDC calculates the Market Cap for the basic symbol to include common shares only. Year-to-date mutual fund returns are calculated on a monthly basis by Value Line and posted mid-month.
*Oil Data in Market Overview is Brent Crude Pricing
'); TSCM.ads.AdPlacerx.sz = "728x90"; TSCM.ads.AdPlacerx.resetTargets(); TSCM.ads.AdPlacerx.calltype = "adj"; TSCM.ads.AdPlacerx.includeDcopt = true; TSCM.ads.AdPlacerx.additionalTargeting = ";;storytype=energy;kval=energy"; TSCM.ads.AdPlacerx.writeTag(); TSCM.ads.AdPlacerx.sz = "233x224"; TSCM.ads.AdPlacerx.resetTargets(); TSCM.ads.AdPlacerx.calltype = "adj"; TSCM.ads.AdPlacerx.adtype = "cau"; TSCM.ads.AdPlacerx.additionalTargeting = ";;storytype=energy;kval=energy"; TSCM.ads.AdPlacerx.writeTag(); TSCM.ads.AdPlacerx.sz = "336x280,336x850,300x250,468x648"; TSCM.ads.AdPlacerx.resetTargets(); TSCM.ads.AdPlacerx.calltype = "adj"; TSCM.ads.AdPlacerx.additionalTargeting = ";;storytype=energy;kval=energy;;storytype=energy;kval=energy"; TSCM.ads.AdPlacerx.writeTag(); TSCM.ads.AdPlacerx.sz="336x280,300x250"; TSCM.ads.AdPlacerx.resetTargets(); TSCM.ads.AdPlacerx.setSite("remnant.thestreet.com"); TSCM.ads.AdPlacerx.additionalTargeting=";box=second"; TSCM.ads.AdPlacerx.calltype="adj"; TSCM.ads.AdPlacerx.writeTag(); /** * function wrapper that places all DART ads using TSCM.ads.positionToPlaceholder * if positionToPlaceholder can't find the elements specified, it just returns and is ready for the next call */ TSCM.ads.placeLazyLoadingAds = function() { // DART 1 (banner) TSCM.ads.positionToPlaceholder({ ad: 'ad728x90', placeholder: 'bannerContainer', flexibleHeight: false }); //DART 2 TSCM.ads.positionToPlaceholder({ ad: 'customUnit', placeholder: 'cauContainer', flexibleHeight: true }); //DART 3 TSCM.ads.positionToPlaceholder({ ad: 'boxAd', placeholder: 'boxAdContainer', flexibleHeight: true }); //DART 4 TSCM.ads.positionToPlaceholder({ ad: 'secondBoxAd', placeholder: 'secondBoxAdContainer', flexibleHeight: false }); }; TSCM.ads.placeLazyLoadingAds() window.setTimeout(function() { TSCM.ads.placeLazyLoadingAds() }, 2000); window.onresize = function() { setTimeout(function() { TSCM.ads.placeLazyLoadingAds(); }, 1000); }; YAHOO.util.event.onDOMReady( YAHOO.util.Dom.setStyle("lazyLoadedObjects", "visibility", "visible") ); var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-6534317-1']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); var gwoTracker =_gat._getTracker("UA-6534317-1"); getcombo_ga("5-0-0"); /* */ NM_SmartSite_ID = '1001'; var disqus_shortname = 'thestreet'; (function () { var s = document.createElement('script'); s.async = true; s.src = 'http://disqus.com/forums/thestreet/count.js'; (document.getElementsByTagName('HEAD')[0] || document.getElementsByTagName('BODY')[0]).appendChild(s); }()); BF_BB_DATA = null; (function( ){ document.write(''); var sid="76IOF7"; var c=""; var b=""; BF_BB_SCRIPT=document.createElement('script'); BF_BB_SCRIPT.type="text/javascript"; BF_BB_SRC="http://buzzbox.buzzfeed.com/wd/BuzzBox?sid=" + sid + c + b + '&it=1&cb=' + (new Date()).getTime(); setTimeout(function() { document.getElementById('BF_BUZZBOX').appendChild(BF_BB_SCRIPT); BF_BB_SCRIPT.src=BF_BB_SRC; },1); })();Before the Bell
Booyah! Newsletter
ETF Daily
Midday Bell
TSC Top Ten Stories Newsletter
Winners & Losers
TheStreet Mobile Edition
Connect with TheStreet
Read Full Article »