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It's Official: Renewable Energy Tax Credits Here to Stay

Someone forgot to tell Goldman;

Solar: Goldman Turns Cautions; Fears Over Supply; Spreading Concerns On Impact Of Tight Credit
Posted by Eric Savitz
Solar stocks are trading sharply lower this morning after Goldman Sachs analyst Michael Molnar declared he has become cautious on the solar group, “as less generous subsidies combined with a wave of supply pose a real risk.”

Molnar asserts in a research note that the risk of oversupply in the solar market “will soon become a reality as considerably less generous demand subsidies take hold just as a wave of supply and tight financing hit the market.” He thinks that “liberal subsidies of the past in markets like Germany and Spain are unlikely to be replicated in the future givne fears of their ultimate cost in a bad world economy.”

As supply increases, he contends, prices will have to “adjust strongly downward to generate demand.” He thinks that trend will lead to below-consensus estimates for module manufacturers and compressed valuations for stocks in the sector.

Molnar today cut his rating on First Solar to a Conviction Sell from Buy, slashing his price target to $103 from $365. For SunPower (SPWRA) he goes to Sell from Buy, with a target of $43, down from $100. He also cuts his target on Evergreen Solar (ESLR) to $4.50 from $10.50.

He sharply reduced estimates for all three of those companies. For FSLR, he now sees $3.62 next year, and $5.92 in 2010, down from $3,75 and $7.13. For SPWRA, he sees $1.22 and $2.47, down from $1.27 and $2.63. For ESLR, he goes to $1.64 and $2.92, down from $1.72 and $2.87.