sirfisup

Suntech Power: Now a Takeover Target

The convertable notes are seen as a drag on the PPS however STP has stated that they are investigating all options as to how to deal with the convertable note issues. During their earnings CC STP said that they have very strong backing of Chinese banks and have sufficient lines of credit that they can draw from. I agree that the debt ratio is not favorable and that it will be a concern heading into 2009. The silver lining here is that STP recognizes that they need to come up with a solution as to how they will deal with the debt when its called in and have said that they are working on the solution to deal with this issue. It is of course Dr. Shi's best interest to calm the analysts views and provide a viable solution that will be met with positive sentiment from the investors and investment community. I suspect that STP will provide some answers as to how they will deal with this problem and it could be that they will either have a common stock offering that would IMHO not be in the best interest of the comapny as the markets are full of sellers and very few buyers however we could see some venture capital come to the aid of STP or we could see a loan from the Chinese govt of which could be derived from the $586 billion stimulus plan. The company has already stated that they are working on renegotiating their silicon contracts and plan to shelve expansion in 2009 which will save the company close to $100 million dollars. Hopefully within a few months STP will have an answer to to this concern and if the remedy is rec'd positively we could see some major upgrades and we could see a major uptrend as alternatives should see a resurgence to 2007 growth levels in 2010. The trick of course is to see how STP weathers the storm in 2008.

Suntech Power: Now a Takeover Target

The notion that STP is for sale is ridiculous. STP's Dr. Shi has very ambitious plans to be the largest solar cell company in the world and has been tight lipped about its thin film plant which will be operational by end of 2008. The thin film plant is projected to produce 50 MW. I know that Dr. Shi and Dr. Wenhem have extensive non-crystilline expertise as evidenced by their success of selling Pacific Solar which has patented CSOG technologies. I suspect that Drs. Shi and Wenhem are both working on 2nd or 3rd generation thin film. Funny that STP has been very tight lipped about what there R & D team are cooking up in the labs. It is also important to note and not to be overlooked is STP's collaboritive effort with UNIV of NSW regarding research of thin film technologies and although they are not the only company that shares its resources they are the biggest contributor of grant money than any other solar company with ties to the UNIV. The economic market contraction within solar is creating the perfect storm for solar innovation and R & D investment and I am hopeful that we will learn of some greater thin film conversion efficiencies in 2009 for I truly believe that STP has something major up their sleeve. Solar is now more attractive than ever with all of the tax incentives and feed in tarriffs that are in place and we should see more incentives as Obama makes alternatives a key part of his stimulus package. You would have to be absolutely nuts to sell your company when you are on the verge of 40% annual growth. Certainly 2009 will not be a banner year and many solar companies will struggle to survive however with continued conversion efficiencies, innovation and lower raw material costs it appears that those who do survive beyond 2009 will experience the greatest growth beyond their wildest imagination.