* Shares fall 24 pct
* Barclays Capital cuts price target by $2 to $8 (Adds details, analysts' comments; updates share movement)
BANGALORE Feb 4 (Reuters) - Power-One (PWER.O: Quote) shares slumped by more than a fifth to a three-month low on Friday, a day after the solar power inverter manufacturer forecast weak first-quarter revenue.
Stifel Nicolaus said Power-One, which has about 90 percent exposure to Europe, need to quickly shift focus on the United States and China.
Germany, the world's top solar market, is preparing for further cuts to its solar subsidies, while growing supplies of photovoltaic panels are expected to outstrip demand, putting pressure on prices and producers' profits.
U.S. demand for solar power is believed to have doubled last year to about 1,000 MW, and panel makers are betting the country's growing green power consumption will help offset stagnant markets in Europe.
"While we expect it may take a quarter or so to rebuild investor confidence again, we believe new global demand for solar will continue to grow as establish regions pause to re-assess while newly emerging regions rise to embrace solar," Merriman Capital's Bill Ong said.
For January-March, Power-One forecast $260-$290 million in sales, below market view [ID:nSGE7120BD], prompting Barclays Capital to cut its price target on the stock of Camarillo, California-based Power-One to $8 from $10.
"While the stock is likely to trade off severely on poor guidance, we are not inclined to chase shares on weakness given what could set up to be fundamental problems in a flattish solar market in 2011," Stifel Nicolaus analysts said in a note.
Power-One shares fell 24 percent to $8.97, in volumes 1.2 times the moving average, in early-morning trade on Nasdaq. The WilderHill Clean Energy index .ECO, which includes solar and other clean energy stocks, was down 0.72 percent.
The company's outlook also dragged the shares of SMA Solar (S92G.DE: Quote), the world's biggest maker of solar inverters. [ID:nLDE7130E6] (Reporting by Krishna N Das in Bangalore; Editing by Joyjeet Das and Maju Samuel)
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