- Prices of solar stocks (NYSEARCA:TAN) tumbled into a black hole today following severely bearish comments from First Solar's (NASDAQ:FSLR) earnings conference call, as it reduced its 2016 forecast for sales and shipments, and cut its capital spending budget.
- FSLR says module pricing “declined at a dramatic rate” in Q3 as other module manufacturers continue to bring new capacity online amid demand dropoff in China, which has led to oversupply and growing inventories.
- JMP Securities maintains a Market Underperform rating on FSLR with a $32 price target, noting that FSLR beat consensus Q3 earnings but was due to non-operating factors, and management's commentary suggests it will take "aggressive steps" to reposition its cost structure in a tough pricing environment.
- Patrick Pouyanne, CEO of Top SunPower shareholder Total (NYSE:TOT), said at a conference in Paris that solar is facing overcapacity and lack of demand, and that “we have to find a way to make renewable businesses profitable.”
- In today's trade: FSLR -14.9%, SPWR -10.5%, CSIQ -10.7%, SKYS -12.1%, CAFD -1.5%.