Top 5 Solar Stocks To Buy For 2014

JA Solar Holdings Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ: JASO) reported its first positive quarterly earnings in more than two years Monday morning to become the latest solar energy company to draw a line under the recovery of the solar photovoltaic (PV) makers. Some have done better than others, but compared with what was happening in the sector two or three years ago, 2014 has so far been a miracle year for solar makers.

But what does this resurrection mean for investors? With a couple of exceptions, solar stocks hit a peak in 2008. First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) topped $300 a share briefly, SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWR) topped $125 a share, JA Solar hit $120, Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSIQ) topped $40 and Trina Solar Ltd. (NYSE: TSL) reached its peak of more than $35 in mid-2007. At today’s prices one almost has to wonder if we are talking about the same companies. The only stock trading anywhere near its peak price of six years ago is Canadian Solar. JinkoSolar is near its all-time high again, but it was not publicly traded until mid-2010.

Best Supermarket Stocks To Own Right Now: Canadian Solar Inc.(CSIQ)

Canadian Solar Inc. engages in the design, development, manufacture, and sale of solar power products in Canada and internationally. The company offers solar cell and solar module products that convert sunlight into electricity for various uses. Its products include a range of standard solar modules for use in a range of residential, commercial, and industrial solar power generation systems. The company also designs and produces specialty solar modules and products consisting of customized modules that its customers incorporate into their products, such as solar-powered bus stop lighting; and specialty products, such as portable solar home systems and solar-powered car battery chargers. In addition, it sells solar system kits, a package consisting of solar modules produced by it and third party supplied components, such as inverters, racking system, and other accessories, as well as implements solar power development projects. The company sells its products under the Canad ian Solar brand name. Canadian Solar Inc. offers its standard solar modules through a direct sales force and sales agents primarily to distributors, system integrators, and original equipment manufacturer customers, as well as to solar projects; and specialty solar modules and products to the automotive, telecommunications, and light-emitting diode lighting sectors. The company was founded in 2001 and is based in Kitchener, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Eric Volkman]

  Start scratching names off the asset list of Canadian Solar (NASDAQ: CSIQ  ) . The company announced that it has closed the sale of Brockville 1, a 10 megawatt AC solar power plant. The buyer is TransCanada (NYSE: TRP  ) , and the plant is one of nine that TransCanada will ultimately take over from its national peer. All told, the nine plants have a combined capacity of 86 megawatts.

• [By Travis Hoium]

  By some measures, Chinese solar manufacturers are improving. Yesterday, Canadian Solar (NASDAQ: CSIQ  ) reported higher-than-expected revenue, a lower loss, and a respectable gross margin of 9.7%. But by others, the market is deteriorating, like Trina Solar's� (NYSE: TSL  ) first quarter, when net loss more than doubled from a year ago to $63.7 million.

• [By Monica Gerson]

  Canadian Solar (NASDAQ: CSIQ) dropped 7.19% to $23.50 in pre-market trading after the company reported weaker-than-expected Q1 earnings and issued a weak forecast.

• [By Travis Hoium]

  What: Shares of Canadian Solar (NASDAQ: CSIQ  ) jumped as much as 16% today after announcing a major project development.

  So what: The company has been hired by Samsung Renewable Energy to design and build a 130 MW utility-scale project called Grand Renewable Solar. The project will generate $301.1 million in revenue for Canadian Solar and will begin construction in the third quarter of this year. �

Top 5 Solar Stocks To Buy For 2014: LDK Solar Co. Ltd.(LDK)

LDK Solar Co., Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, development, manufacture, and marketing of photovoltaic (PV) products; and development of power plant projects. It offers solar-grade and semiconductor-grade polysilicon; and multicrystalline and monocrystalline solar wafers to the manufacturers of solar cells and solar modules. The company also provides wafer processing services to monocrystalline and multicrystalline solar cell and module manufacturers; and sells silicon materials, such as ingots and polysilicon scraps. In addition, it engages in the production and sale of solar cells and modules to developers, distributors, and system integrators; and design and development of solar power projects in Europe, the United States, and China, as well as provides engineering, procurement, and construction services. LDK Solar Co., Ltd. operates in Europe, the Asia Pacific, and North America. The company was founded in 2005 and is based in Xinyu City, t he People?s Republic of China.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Travis Hoium]

  But all of these positives couldn't help LDK Solar (NYSE: LDK  ) post decent numbers, and the company continues to slip closer and closer to bankruptcy. First-quarter sales were just $104.3 million, which isn't even double the quarterly interest expense of $58 million, and net loss was $187.1 million.�

• [By Jeremy Bowman]

  What: Shares of Chinese stocks were getting dumped today following the Shanghai Composite's 5.3% plunge last night. Among those feeling the pain were YY (NASDAQ: YY  ) , Dangdang (NYSE: DANG  ) , Trina Solar (NYSE: TSL  ) , Giant Interactive (NYSE: GA  ) , and LDK Solar (NYSE: LDK  ) , all of which were down by 10% or more at one point today.

• [By Bryan Murphy]

  There's no denying that LDK Solar Co., Ltd (NYSE:LDK) has been a notable laggard this year compared to performances from First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) and Real Goods Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:RSOL). RSOL is up nearly 180% year-to-date, with a decent chunk of that gain unfurling in just the last couple of months. FSLR is up 25% for the year so far, though that more modest gain would have been much bigger had it not been for February's 24% plunge. Meanwhile, LDK shares are down 22% year-to-date, and have barely even blipped despite the fact that solar energy has become all the rage again in recent months.

Top 5 Solar Stocks To Buy For 2014: Renesola Ltd.(SOL)

ReneSola Ltd, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of solar wafers and solar power products. It offers virgin polysilicons, monocrystalline and multicrystalline solar wafers, and photovoltaic cells and modules. The company also provides cell and module processing services. Its products are used in a range of residential, commercial, industrial, and other solar power generation systems. The company sells its solar wafers primarily to solar cell and module manufacturers. It principally operates in Mainland China, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Korea, India, Australia, Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium, France, the Czech Republic, and the United States. The company was founded in 2003 and is based in Jiashan, the People?s Republic of China.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Paul Ausick]

  Notable earnings reports currently on tap for next week: Qihu 360 Technology Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ: QIHU), Avago Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: AVGO), LDK Solar Co. Ltd. (NYSE: LDK), Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF), Joy Global Inc. (NYSE: JOY), Campbell Soup Co. (NYSE: CPB), JA Solar Holdings Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ: JASO), Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc. (NYSE: KKD), and ReneSola Ltd. (NYSE: SOL).

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  But Trina gave a troubling update to its quarterly guidance a couple weeks ago, saying that it shipped 390-400 megawatts of solar modules during the quarter, down from its original 420-430 megawatt estimate. With gross margins of just 1% to 3%, Trina isn't faring as badly as peer ReneSola (NYSE: SOL  ) , which posted negative gross margins in its quarterly report earlier this month. Yet Trina still isn't making enough money to come close to profitability in the near future.

• [By Claudia Assis]

  Top gainers in the solar sector included SolarCity Corp. (SCTY) , with shares up 0.8%. U.S.-listed shares of ReneSola Ltd. (SOL) �rose 3.1%.

• [By Travis Hoium]

  What: Shares of solar manufacturer ReneSola (NYSE: SOL  ) jumped as much as 26% today after the company increased guidance.

  So what: Management said that second-quarter shipments would be 760 MW-770 MW, well above the previous expectation of 700 MW-720 MW. Gross margin is also expected to be 5%-6%, above the 3%-5% previously expected. �

Top 5 Solar Stocks To Buy For 2014: JA Solar Holdings Co. Ltd.(JASO)

JA Solar Holdings Co., Ltd., through its subsidiaries, engages in the design, development, manufacture, and sale of photovoltaic solar cells and solar products, which convert sunlight into electricity in the People's Republic of China. The company?s principal products include monocrystalline and multicrystalline solar cells, as well as various solar modules. It also provides silicon wafer and solar cell processing services. The company sells its products primarily under the JA Solar brand name, as well as produces equipment for original equipment manufacturing customers under their brand names. It sells its solar cell and module products primarily to module manufacturers, system integrators, project developers, and distributors in the Germany, Italy, the United States, Hong Kong, Spain, India, the Czech Republic, France, and South Korea. The company has strategic partnerships with various solar power companies, such as BP Solar, Solar-Fabrik, and MEMC/SunEdison. JA Solar Holdings Co., Ltd. was founded in 2005 and is based in Shanghai, the People?s Republic of China.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Laura Brodbeck]

  Notable earnings releases expected on Monday include:

  LAN Chile S.A. (NYSE: LFL) is expected to report fourth quarter EPS of $0.24 on revenue of $3.50 billion, compared to last year�� EPS of $0.02 on revenue of $3.48 billion. JA Solar Holdings, Co. Ltd (NASDAQ: JASO) is expected to report EPS of $0.03 on revenue of $291.75 million, compared to last year�� loss of $2.65 per share on revenue of $268.09 million. Sterling Construction Company, Inc�(NASDAQ: STRL) is expected to report a fourth quarter loss of $1.47 per share on revenue of $153.07 million, compared to last year�� EPS of $0.18 on revenue of $158.09 million.

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