Formerly the biggest maker of solar panels in the world, with more than 10,000 employees, China-based Suntech Power Holdings (NYSE: STP ) has witnessed a long fall from grace. The nail in the coffin came in March, when the company failed to pay a $513 million debt obligation. Shortly following its default, the company sailed into Chinese bankruptcy protection. Fast-forward to this week and the company is trading more than 30% higher on a largely speculative rumor that Warren Buffett is looking to buy it.
Rumor mill
Suntech Power has been licking its wounds since entering bankruptcy last month. Come Monday night, the company went from one of the worst-performing Chinese stocks to market darling after a Chinese news service�reported that Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-A ) (NYSE: BRK-B ) subsidiary MidAmerican Energy will likely buy the solar panel manufacturer.
This was enough to send the stock up more than 30% in Tuesday's trading, with not a single official comment to be found.
Best European Companies To Own In Right Now: Canadian Solar Inc.(CSIQ)
Canadian Solar Inc. engages in the design, development, manufacture, and sale of solar power products in Canada and internationally. The company offers solar cell and solar module products that convert sunlight into electricity for various uses. Its products include a range of standard solar modules for use in a range of residential, commercial, and industrial solar power generation systems. The company also designs and produces specialty solar modules and products consisting of customized modules that its customers incorporate into their products, such as solar-powered bus stop lighting; and specialty products, such as portable solar home systems and solar-powered car battery chargers. In addition, it sells solar system kits, a package consisting of solar modules produced by it and third party supplied components, such as inverters, racking system, and other accessories, as well as implements solar power development projects. The company sells its products under the Canad ian Solar brand name. Canadian Solar Inc. offers its standard solar modules through a direct sales force and sales agents primarily to distributors, system integrators, and original equipment manufacturer customers, as well as to solar projects; and specialty solar modules and products to the automotive, telecommunications, and light-emitting diode lighting sectors. The company was founded in 2001 and is based in Kitchener, Canada.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Michael Cintolo]
Canadian Solar (CSIQ) is a Chinese solar company that's headquartered in Ontario. The company makes silicon ingots, wafers, solar cells, and modules, and ranks among the largest solar companies in the world.
- [By Wall Street Strategies]
Naturally the news is a big positive for the industry, with Chinese solar names like Yingli (YGE), Trina (TSL), Canadian Solar (CSIQ) -- which is actually Chinese despite its name -- JinkoSolar (JKS), JA Solar (JASO), and LDK Solar (LDK) each up more than 10% at midday. The Guggenheim Solar ETF (TAN), which tracks several global solar companies, was up 8%, breaking to a new 52-week high.
- [By Paul Ausick]
Chinese solar companies are a different story. Many manufacture their own silicon wafers and sell silicon to other makers. Trina Solar Ltd. (NYSE: TSL), LDK Solar Co. Ltd. (NYSE: LDK), JA Solar Holdings Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ: JASO) and Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSIQ) all manufacture and sell solar ingots, wafers or cells.
- [By Travis Hoium]
Don't look now but SunPower (NASDAQ: SPWR ) has become the best-performing stock in the solar industry. Over the past year, it's been better than fellow U.S.-based companies First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR ) and SolarCity (NASDAQ: SCTY ) , and far better than most Chinese manufacturers. Yingli Green Energy (NYSE: YGE ) and Trina Solar lag well behind even after recent pops higher; only Canadian Solar (NASDAQ: CSIQ ) can come close to SunPower's return (and I'll get into the reason for that below).
Hot Solar Stocks To Watch For 2014: Peabody Energy Corporation(BTU)
Peabody Energy Corporation engages in the mining of coal. It mines, prepares, and sells thermal coal to electric utilities and metallurgical coal to industrial customers. The company owns interests in 30 coal mining operations located in the United States and Australia, as well as owns joint venture interest in a Venezuela mine. It is also involved in marketing, brokering, and trading coal. In addition, the company develops a mine-mouth coal-fueled generating plant; and Btu Conversion projects that are designed to convert coal to natural gas or transportation fuels; and clean coal technologies. As of December 31, 2011, it had 9 billion tons of proven and probable coal reserves. The company was founded in 1883 and is headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Garrett Cook]
Peabody Energy (NYSE: BTU) shares tumbled 3.55 percent to $16.02 after Deutsche Bank downgraded the stock from Buy to Hold and lowered the price target from $23.00 to $19.00.
- [By Ben Levisohn]
Weakness in commodities, however, dragged commodity stocks down, as talk of an attack on Syria was dialed back. Peabody Energy (BTU) dropped 3.8% to $17.22, making it the S&P 500′s biggest loser. Cliffs Natural Resources (CLF) finished off 3.1% at $20.97.
Hot Solar Stocks To Watch For 2014: LDK Solar Co. Ltd.(LDK)
LDK Solar Co., Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, development, manufacture, and marketing of photovoltaic (PV) products; and development of power plant projects. It offers solar-grade and semiconductor-grade polysilicon; and multicrystalline and monocrystalline solar wafers to the manufacturers of solar cells and solar modules. The company also provides wafer processing services to monocrystalline and multicrystalline solar cell and module manufacturers; and sells silicon materials, such as ingots and polysilicon scraps. In addition, it engages in the production and sale of solar cells and modules to developers, distributors, and system integrators; and design and development of solar power projects in Europe, the United States, and China, as well as provides engineering, procurement, and construction services. LDK Solar Co., Ltd. operates in Europe, the Asia Pacific, and North America. The company was founded in 2005 and is based in Xinyu City, t he People?s Republic of China.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Paul Ausick]
Chinese solar companies are a different story. Many manufacture their own silicon wafers and sell silicon to other makers. Trina Solar Ltd. (NYSE: TSL), LDK Solar Co. Ltd. (NYSE: LDK), JA Solar Holdings Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ: JASO) and Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSIQ) all manufacture and sell solar ingots, wafers or cells.
- [By Travis Hoium]
Solar tariffs in Europe started at a low 11% rate last week, but if a deal between Europe, China, and even the U.S. isn't reached by Aug. 6 then they could go up to as much as 68%. This is clearly a negative development for Chinese manufacturers like Yingli Green Energy (NYSE: YGE ) , LDK Solar (NYSE: LDK ) , and Trina Solar (NYSE: TSL ) , but it's not necessarily good for U.S. companies either. First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR ) has little presence in Europe right now and SunPower (NASDAQ: SPWR ) won't see much benefit from tariffs either. In the end, tariffs are bad for nearly everyone, a sentiment Travis Hoium covers in the video below.�
- [By Rick Aristotle Munarriz]
AP Photo/Burger King Companies can make brilliant moves, but there are also times when things don't work out quite as planned. From a Japanese gaming pioneer finally cutting prices on its poor selling devices to a burger chain introducing a burger for a buck, here's a rundown of the week's smartest moves and biggest blunders in the business world. Walmart (WMT) -- Winner The country's biggest retailer was singled out in this column last week for the way that it's bringing back its layaway plan for the holiday shopping season. And this week it earns another shout out. In a memo to its associates this week, Walmart revealed that its health insurance policies for 2014 will cover "any spouse or domestic partner" regardless of gender. Walmart knows that this is still a polarizing topic. However, by opening up health coverage to domestic partners -- gay or straight -- Walmart is likely to score points with many who have been critical of the company's practices in the past. Sure, we can lament that just half of Walmart's 1.3 million associates have elected health coverage through the company. No one's saying the giant discounter is perfect. However, this move will help improve its image with a lot of its detractors. Burger King (BKW) -- Loser Burger chains are bucking the trend these days, beefing up their dollar menus at a time when the economy is showing signs of life. There's a reason for that. Customers are moving up to higher quality "fast casual" establishments that offer better food at slightly higher price points with the convenience of counter service. Burger King's latest push was announced this week. It will add a French fry-topped hamburger -- for a buck -- to its menu in September. There's nothing inherently wrong with the new sandwich. Who hasn't placed fries inside their burger from time to time? However, this seems like a bad play for franchisees: They may see fry sales slip at the hands of penny-pinching diners believing that they can knock of
- [By Dan Caplinger]
Next Tuesday, LDK Solar (NYSE: LDK ) will release its latest quarterly results. Lately, investors have had to wonder whether the Chinese solar company will be able to continue operating, as LDK is one of many solar companies in the emerging-market nation going through a cash crunch due to large losses.
Hot Solar Stocks To Watch For 2014: Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited(YGE)
Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, development, manufacture, marketing, sale, and installation of photovoltaic (PV) products in the People?s Republic of China and internationally. The company offers PV cells, PV modules, and integrated PV systems, as well as polysilicon ingots, blocks, and wafers. It sells its PV modules to distributors, wholesalers, power plant developers and operators, and PV system integrators in Germany, the United States, Italy, China, Spain, the Netherlands, Greece, the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom, South Korea, and Japan under the Yingli and Yingli Solar brand names. The company also offers its integrated PV systems directly to end-users or to contractors for use in the electricity projects, as well as to mobile communications companies in the People's Republic of China. Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Baoding, the People? s Republic of China.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Travis Hoium]
Chinese solar stocks have been up and down daily based on tariff rumors from Europe. But what will the impact be for major manufacturers such as Trina Solar (NYSE: TSL ) , Canadian Solar (NASDAQ: CSIQ ) , and Yingli Green Energy (NYSE: YGE ) ? Solar analyst Travis Hoium goes through the two most likely possibilities in the following video.�
Hot Solar Stocks To Watch For 2014: JinkoSolar Holding Company Limited(JKS)
JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of solar power products in China and internationally. The company provides solar modules, silicon wafers and ingots, and solar cells, as well as processing services, including silicon wafer tolling services. It sells its products under the JinkoSolar brand name. The company?s customers include distributors, project developers, and system integrators. It trades its products under short-term contracts and by spot market sales. The company also produces accessory materials for solar power products, such as solar aluminum frame, solar junction box, aluminum materials windows, and other metal component parts. JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd. was founded in 2006 and is based in Shangrao, the People?s Republic of China.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Travis Hoium]
JinkoSolar (NYSE: JKS ) �and Canadian Solar (NASDAQ: CSIQ ) have slightly better balance sheets and they're focusing on expanding into systems, which will smooth out demand. JinkoSolar has a $1 billion financing deal with the China Development Bank to build projects, not just manufacturing capacity, which will help demand. Canadian Solar has built a huge systems business in Canada, including a $310 million, 130 MW project last month, and signed 18 MW of deals in South Carolina last week. The systems business generates stable demand and allows companies to compete more than on price alone, which helps margins.�
- [By Eric Volkman]
JinkoSolar (NYSE: JKS ) suffered a widened quarterly loss, as revealed in the release of its fiscal Q4 and 2012 results. For the quarter, revenue for the China-based solar specialist was the equivalent of $187 million, down from $192 million in the same period the previous year. Net loss widened over that time span, to $122 million, or $1.38 per share, from Q4 2011's red figure of $59 million, $0.65.
Hot Solar Stocks To Watch For 2014: Real Goods Solar Inc.(RSOL)
Real Goods Solar, Inc. operates as a residential and commercial solar energy integrator primarily in California and Colorado. The company provides engineering, procurement, and construction services. It offers various turnkey solar energy services, including design, procurement, permitting, build-out, grid connection, financing referrals, and warranty and customer satisfaction services. The company installs residential and small commercial systems that range between 3 kilowatts and 1 megawatt output. It also engages in the retail sale of renewable energy products. The company was founded in 1978 and is based in Louisville, Colorado.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Bryan Murphy]
There's no denying that LDK Solar Co., Ltd (NYSE:LDK) has been a notable laggard this year compared to performances from First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) and Real Goods Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:RSOL). RSOL is up nearly 180% year-to-date, with a decent chunk of that gain unfurling in just the last couple of months. FSLR is up 25% for the year so far, though that more modest gain would have been much bigger had it not been for February's 24% plunge. Meanwhile, LDK shares are down 22% year-to-date, and have barely even blipped despite the fact that solar energy has become all the rage again in recent months.
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