Tuesday, January 21, 2014

JP Morgan's SolarCity Downgrade... (SCTY)

...was on valuation, one of the trickier things to get right. After trading down to $71.84 the stock is at $73.72.
From The Street:

UPDATE: JPMorgan Downgrades SolarCity (SCTY) to Neutral
JPMorgan downgraded SolarCity (NASDAQ: SCTY) from Overweight to Neutral with a price target of $68.00 (unchanged).

"The stock is up 32% YTD and has traded through our $68 price target, with which we believe risk/reward is now more balanced. We believe that fundamentals remain constructive; the firm is doing an excellent of reducing the cost of finance, expanding market reach, and increasing efficiency; however, at this price level some of the exogenous risks come into focus, including rising interest rates, competition, and growing opposition to distributed solar from utilities," said analyst Paul Coster.

For an analyst ratings summary and ratings history on SolarCity click here. For more ratings news on SolarCity click here....
I mentioned what we consider the two largest of the exogenous risks back on the 14th (make or break time for the stock at $62.42):
...Because of the success getting panels on roofs utilities are pushing for two things:
1) That customers with rooftop systems pay something for maintenance of the grid and;
2) That the payments they make when rooftop systems push electrons into the grid be based on the wholesale prices the utilities pay other suppliers.
Either one of which reduces the attraction of the Solar City business model....
Interest rates aren't really a concern (yet).