Jack Yetiv

The Sweet Smell of Solar Values

First, thanks for introducing Systaic--I'm not familiar with it and will need to look into it.

Second, I have some disagreements with your conclusions. I have liked TSL since early 2008, as you can see from SA articles I wrote recommending it. In fact, I still like (for the same reasons I expressed in 2008) TSL's integrated business model and the geographic dispersion of its customers, and its forward-thinking lack of reliance on the European market. Having said all that, a forward PE of 13.5 against 2010 projected earnings is not a screaming bargain. Depending on market sentiment for solars, this could be fairly priced, somewhat underpriced (ie, suggesting some upside) or somewhat overpriced (ie, suggesting some downside risk).

Where TSL's stock price goes largely depends, in my opinion, on where ASP's end up in the second half of 2009 and in 2010.

I can make very compelling arguments that ASP's in 2009 and 2010 (1) will fall from where they were in Q2, (2) will go up from where they were in Q2, (3) will stay stable from where they were in Q2.

The problem is--I'm not sure which one of my compelling arguments is most likely to be correct. My GUESS is that ASP's will continue to drop, but not as much as some of the doomsayers think they will, and I believe this will occur because demand will increase in late 2009 and 2010 more than many expect. But my confidence level in this prediction is not super-high, and a forward PE of 13.5 does not leave much room for error.

Further thoughts later.

Jack Yetiv