Monday, March 15, 2010

Wind:Things that Make You Say Hmmm- JP Morgan's "Buy" on Broadwind Energy (BWEN)

This was the March 9 story at Tech Trader Daily:

Broadwind Rises; J.P. Morgan Launches With Overweight Rating

Broadwind Energy (BWEN) shares are trading higher this morning after J.P. Morgan analyst Christopher Blansett launched coverage of the wind energy equipment supplier with an Overweight rating and $6.50 price target. The stock closed yesterday at $5.11.

“We believe wind industry fundamentals are nearing a bottom and expect Broadwind’s business fundamentals to begin to improve” starting in the 2010 second half “once excess inventory of turbines/towers have been drawn down,” he writes.

Blansett thinks the outlook is better for wind than for solar; today he downgraded the solar sector in anticipation of a supply glut in the 2010 second half.

BWEN today is up 35 cents, or 6.9%, to $5.46.

Here's the Friday March 12 story from TTD's sister publication, the Wall Street Journal:

Broadwind Energy 4Q Loss Widens Sharply On Write-Downs

Broadwind Energy Inc.'s (BWEN) fourth-quarter loss widened sharply on a big write-down as the wind-industry supplier reported sharply lower demand under multi-year deals.

Chief Executive J. Cameron Drecoll said Broadwind currently is seeing orders increase and that following a weak first half the company expects "to regain traction" in the second half of 2010 and expand market share and revenue next year. The company expects revenue to trough in the current quarter, and then rebound, exceeding prior-year levels in the second half of the year.

Broadwind--which supplies products and services focused on the North American wind industry--has seen its bottom line crippled, posting nine straight quarterly losses. Broadwind has said frozen credit markets have left it hard for companies to find funding to build new wind farms.

The company reported a loss of $92.6 million, or 96 cents a share, compared with a prior-year loss of $12.4 million, or 13 cents. The results included write-downs of $82.2 million and $2.4 million, respectively.

Revenue plunged 58% to $32.9 million....


Here's the 10-day chart from BigCharts (UPDATED to 4-29):

What's up with J.P. Morgan's timing?