Solar companies: we can survive
Canadian Solar looks set to survive the solar industry's ongoing crisis using its new business model, while LDK is slowly being taken over by an opportunistic buyer
A mini flurry of news from embattled solar panel makers seems to have the same singular message, designed to tell investors that they can survive an industry crisis now entering its third year. Of course the companies that emerge when the crisis finally subsidies could be far different from the ones that went into the crisis, which seems to be the message from LDK (NYSE: LDK) in its latest announcement involving its slow takeover by a Chinese investor. At the other end of the spectrum, the message from Canadian Solar (Nasdaq: CSIQ) is a more upbeat, with the company forecasting a return to profit for all of 2013 as it rolls out a new business model. Finally in the middle there's Trina (NYSE: TSL), which is simply trying to show investors it's capable of repaying its debt.
Investors responded to this flurry of news by continuing to treat solar stocks as mostly gambling toys rather than real investment instruments, as everyone waits to see what kind of industry will emerge from the ongoing sector retrenchment. Only Trina's shares managed to rally on its relatively upbeat news, rising 3.5 per cent after it said it would repay its debt coming due later this month.
Canadian Solar shares actually fell 2 per cent after it forecast that it would turn a profit for all of 2013. But I should also note that the company's shares have staged an incredible rally over the last few months, nearly quadrupling since late March, So perhaps the stock was due for a break on this latest good news. Lastly, LDK shares fell 5 per cent on the latest news that the company is being slowly taken over by another Chinese investor.
This kind of model does indeed look like a good source of new business, assuming buyers like TransCanada actually end up paying for all the new plants they promised to buy. Canadian Solar says the sale is part of its goal to obtain half of its revenue from building such plants for operators, which is a key part of its strategy for posting a profit for the full-year 2013.
Bottom line: Canadian Solar looks set to survive the solar industry's ongoing crisis using its new business model, while LDK is slowly being taken over by an opportunistic buyer.
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