Friday, August 29, 2008

First Solar, SunPower, To Get Clobbered In 2009, Sell After Trade Show (FSLR, SPWR, AMAT)

That's ClusterStock"s headline, they must be readers of Joel Achenbach:
...When in doubt, go with the most hysterical headline.
(Rule one of blogging is that the End Of The World will be good for page views.)
Here's the FSLR story:
FBR remains a staunch bear when it comes to the solar industry. And today, it's business as usual as the firm reiterates its thesis that the supply of solar systems will grow much faster than demand in CY09, leading to Average Selling Price and margin pressures that have yet to be "fully" dialed into solar stocks.

FBR sees more than the anticipated downside risk for SunPower (SPWR) in Spain:

Solaria (the largest Spanish system installer/developer) reported yesterday a 45% QOQ decline in megawatt (MW) shipments in 2Q, some of which was driven by 50MW of cancellations. Since we expect 30%-plus of SPWR's revenue mix in CY08 to be driven by Spain, and since Spain is expected to slow down dramatically in CY09, unless other geographies pick up significantly, we see Solaria's news as another indictor of downside risk to CY09 expectations for SPWR....MORE