LDK Solar Co. Ltd.
It was another underwhelming week for the stock markets, with the broad markets and broad clean energy indices all losing ground over the five days.
The only strongly positive clean energy sector was wind power and technology, with the EnergyBoom Wind Subindex (E•B Wind) increasing 1.35% and the First Trust Global Wind Energy ETF (FAN) climbing 0.90%. Biggest loser was the solar power and technology sector, with the EnergyBoom Solar Subindex (E•B Solar) falling 7.34% and the Guggenheim Solar ETF (TAN) dropping 6.27%.
Solar power component companies roared back to the top of the heap this week, with the EnergyBoom Solar Subindex (E•B Solar) increasing 7.91 percent and the Guggenheim Solar ETF (TAN) increasing 6.38 percent, beating all other green tech sectors and the broader markets.
Shares of semiconductor and solar technology technology company MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc. (NYSE: WFR) were trading up more than 13 percent at mid-day after announcing Fiscal 2010 and Q4 financial results that were dramatically higher than 2009. The company also forecast profits of 40 percent to 300 percent higher for 2011.
OTHER NEWS: Ormat Technologies, LDK Solar, Power-One
Most green sector stock market indicators, including all five EnergyBoom indices, trounced the broader markets in the United States and overseas this week. The best performance was turned in by the EnergyBoom Solar Subindex (E•B Solar) which increased 5.28 percent.
Shares of LDK Solar Co., Ltd. (NYSE: LDK), a leading vertically integrated manufacturer of photovoltaic (PV) products and the world's largest producer of multicrystalline solar wafers, rose 18 percent Monday after the company increased its guidance for its fourth quarter 2010 and fiscal year 2011.
(Other news: Johnson Controls, Inc.; Cree, Inc.)
Shares of tiny photovoltaic (PV) systems and module manufacturer Solar Power, Inc. (OTCBB: SOPW.OB) jumped 30 percent Thursday (but slipped back six per cent in early trading today) after it announced that LDK Solar Co., Ltd. (NYSE: LDK), the world’s largest producer of multicrystalline PV wafers, was buying 70 percent of the company for approximately $33 million.
Other news: AQT Solar heading to South Carolina
Solar stocks are showing signs of life today after another drubbing yesterday. Both the EnergyBoom E•B Solar sub-index and the Claymore/MAC Global Solar Index ETF fell more than 4 percent yesterday.
Only a couple of solar stocks escaped yesterday’s downer, however it is worth noting that there has been a significant divide -- as in continental divide -- over the past year in the performance of the Chinese-based companies versus the U.S. and Euro-based companies.
Shares in Syntroleum Corporation (NASDAQ: SYNM) declined only slightly yesterday (and recovered today) after the company reported another quarter of depressed financial results.
The share price might have fallen more had not investors received some good news with the bad: The company’s new biodiesel plant at Geismar, Louisiana, the largest commercial scale biodiesel facility in the United States, is now producing and selling biodiesel formulated as jet fuel to the United States Air Force Research Laboratory.
Other news: EnerNoc, Inc. (NASDAQ: ENOC), LDK Solar Co. Ltd. (NYSE: LDK), JA Solar Holdings Co. Ltd. (NYSE: JASO)
EnergyBoom’s E•B Solar subindex, led by the Chinese low-cost solar cell and module producers, increased 5.10 percent last week. E•B Solar beat EnergyBoom’s other four clean sector indices and all broad market indices except the Hang Seng (Hong Kong) Index which increased 7.18 percent.
Whether you consider Taiwan to be a self-governing independent state or a renegade province of Mainland China depends on your politics, but one thing is for certain: It's a key player in the manufacture of solar cells globally.
