User 161444

Trina Solar: Best Value in the Solar Space

As to which solar stocks I like: I don't like any of the Chinese solar companies because for most of them (and there are exceptions of course) their accounting is suspicious, their balance sheets are mostly horrendous, they have no sustainable competitive advantages, and they are known to virtually every trader on Wall Street.

The only solar company I do like right now is ATA.TO, the one stock nobody has even heard of. ATA.TO is undergoing a restructuring, and has several divisions, but they own a solar subsidiary called PhotoWatt which could become quite valuable in the year ahead. Photowatt does nearly $200 million in solar PV sales and is years ahead of the competition in actually producing and selling MgSi modules (something that CSIQ is starting to hype).

Since you like CSIQ, you'd be pleased to know that ATA was once the largest shareholder of CSIQ and that the CEO of CSIQ used to work at PhotoWatt, the solar sub. of ATA.

Trina Solar: Best Value in the Solar Space

You are once again comparing companies to each other that have no basis in being compared and are thereby misleading potential investors. It's a shame that this site gets so much publicity, but the reports placed on here have no editorial oversight.

There are many different segments of the solar industry and many different companies each having completely different risk profiles, financial positions and growth prospects. For example, how is AKNS in any way comparable to CSIQ or SOLF or TSL? Do you even know what AKNS does? It's like comparing DELL to INTC just because they are both in the computer industry.

There are countless other examples on non-comparables in the list above that anyone with a modicum of understanding of the solar industry would be able to point out. I only hope that readers of this blog don't make investment decisions in the solar industry based on this misinformation.

In case you do, just remember that the solar industry has many parts and different companies operate in various segments of the industry. Some make silicon panels, others make wafers, some make thin-film, some only make cells, some companies are fully integrated, and others are not etc. To see if one company or another is undervalued, one needs to compare it to another company that operates in the same segment and with the same business profile.