Investors Dump Solar Stocks Despite Upgrades As Oil Drops and Market Turmoil Continues
Shares of solar-power companies dived Wednesday despite a few analyst upgrades, as oil prices fell further and investors dumped risky stocks amid continued market turmoil.
Though oil prices and solar power are not directly linked, cheaper oil sometimes leads to a sell-off of alternative energy stocks. Light, sweet crude for March delivery fell $1.61 to $87.60 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 72 cents to settle at $89.85 a barrel on Tuesday.
Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. shares posted a drop of $3.89, or 15.1 percent, to $21.94. Suntech Power Holdings Co. fell $7.39, or 13.1 percent, to $48.96; First Solar Inc. declined $28.30, or 15.5 percent, to $154.49; and Hoku Scientific Inc. fell $1.10, or 12 percent, to $8.10.Despite sharp declines across the sector, several analysts cited buying opportunities at cheaper prices. Banc of America Securities analyst Eric Brown, who is cautious on renewable stocks, noted that solar stocks are down an average 34 percent so far this year as a result of broader fears of an economic recession and concerns about industry fundamentals.
"However, by no means do we believe that solar stocks are dead," he wrote....MORE
And from Yahoo Finance:
AMAT ASTI BTUI CSIQ CSUN DSTI ENER ESLR FCEL FSLR HOKU JASO LDK SOLF SPWR STP TSL WFR YGE | 17.31 13.28 10.79 16.57 8.49 3.23 21.33 10.51 7.55 152.75 8.20 54.80 33.08 16.67 68.34 46.68 30.32 62.00 21.50 | -0.68 -1.40 -0.24 -2.02 -0.56 -0.41 -0.97 -0.74 -0.33 -30.04 -1.00 -5.62 -0.83 -2.33 -9.58 -9.67 -4.01 -5.00 -4.33 | News News News News News News News News News News News News News News News News News News News |
