sábado, 25 de julio de 2009

SunPower’s Unexpected Profit Pushes Solar Shares Up

By Christopher Martin
July 24 (Bloomberg) -- SunPower Corp., the second-biggest U.S. solar module maker, led solar manufacturers higher after reporting an unexpected second-quarter profit and raising guidance for the year as renewable energy financing recovered.
San Jose, California-based SunPower rose $7.19, or 29 percent, to $32.04 on the Nasdaq Stock Market. It was the biggest gain since Nov. 24. Suntech Power Holdings Co. climbed 8.2 percent to $20.49, Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. was up 11 percent to $15.10, and First Solar Inc., the biggest U.S. module maker, climbed 7.4 percent to $169.43.
“SunPower gave a much more positive tone on how credit markets are beginning to thaw,” Paul Clegg, an analyst at Jefferies & Co. in New York, said in an interview. He has a “buy’ rating on the shares and today raised his price target to $35 from $27. “That bodes well for China’s top manufacturers, like Suntech and Yingli.”
SunPower yesterday reported net income of $24.2 million, or 26 cents a share. Analysts expected SunPower to lose 3 cents, the average of 19 estimates compiled by Bloomberg. The company raised its guidance for the year to 45 cents to 90 cents from 25 to 75 cents estimated in April.
‘Tough Backdrop’
SunPower has a more accurate picture of the solar industry than its competitors because it makes components as well as designs and installs systems for customers, Chief Executive Officer Tom Werner said.
“You have a tough economic backdrop. There’s a lot of solar manufacturers giving conflicting views of the market,” Werner, 49, said in an interview after the second quarter results were released yesterday. “We feel we have the best sense of end-customer dynamics.”
Investments in renewable energy dropped 33 percent globally during the second quarter to $24.3 billion from a year earlier, according to industry publisher New Energy Finance. That’s an 83 percent gain over first-quarter investments.
Q-Cells SE, a German producer of solar cells, on July 14 reported a second-quarter loss and said 2009 sales would be less than it forecast. Thalheim, Germany-based Q-Cells had already cut expectations for the year three times to a range of $1.3 billion euros to $1.6 billion euros. Its shares dropped 16 percent that day.
SunPower, Suntech and Yingli may be gaining market share in Europe from Q-Cells and some of its higher-cost rivals, which now won’t give a forecast for 2009 sales, said Dan Ries, an analyst at Collins Stewart LLC in New York..
“SunPower surprised me with strong module sales in Europe,” Ries said in an interview. “Growth isn’t that great right now, so what we’re seeing is a market share shift to low- cost manufacturers. SunPower is unique because they’re gaining share even with their premium pricing.” Ries raised his rating on the company to “hold” from “sell.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Christopher Martin in New York at cmartin11@bloomberg.net. Last Updated: July 24, 2009 16:27 EDT

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