(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha. Click here to read the entire piece.)
GT Solar (SOLR) is one of the few companies, and just about the only solar company, that has survived the May-June correction in the general market. The stock has managed to stay on an uptrend since the April (and 2011) lows although it has experienced some wild gyrations since reporting earnings on May 24th.
*Chart created using TeleChart
Great order backlog news continues to roll in, and SOLR raised guidance for fiscal Q1 and its order backlog a mere three weeks after reporting earnings. I strongly suspect that if not for the on-going market correction, SOLR would be much higher right now.
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SOLR’s guidance already accounts for the current solar slowdown and to the extent the slowdown is not as bad as feared, the company expects to report upside to its guidance.
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…the Sapphire business should provide a strong counter-cyclical component to GT Solar’s business. The LED market should be growing rapidly in the coming years…
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GT Solar’s diversified base of revenues has compelled the company to change its name to GT Advanced Technologies. This transformation will become official in August along with a new stock ticker symbol.
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With the new guidance, I am significantly adjusting upward my previous price target range on SOLR from $8.75 – $11.50 to $14.00 – $18.50 before March, 2012 (end of fiscal year 2012)…If the general market firms up, I think the market may be willing to pay as much as a 12 forward P/E, especially given the buy-out possibilities with SOLR…
{snipped extensive notes from earnings conference call}
Be careful out there!
(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha. Click here to read the entire piece.)
Full disclosure: long SOLR