- SolarCity (SCTY -0.9%) is downgraded to Sell from Hold with a $16 price target by Axiom Capital's Gordon Johnson, a day before shareholders will vote on the proposed merger with Tesla.
- Johnson now predicts a 70% chance of the merger's approval but is highly critical, saying "Tesla investors either: (a) lack a very basic understanding of the solar market, or (b) lack a very basic understanding of accounting."
- Johnson also downgrades several other solar stocks (TAN -0.2%) - JA Solar (JASO -0.9%), Trina Solar (TSL +0.7%) and Yingli Green Energy (YGE -3.9%) - to Sell from Buy, citing an expected drop in support for solar in the U.S. following the Trump election.
- He also cites caution on Chinese module prices given profit-dilutive quotes being submitted by Chinese module companies in the government's Top Runner program.