Chinese Solar Firms’ Stocks Dive on Tariff News (YGE, TSL, STP, JASO, LDK, FSLR, SPWR)

Yesterday’s sugar-coated decision by the US Commerce Department to impose tariffs of up to nearly 5% on Chinese-made solar panels imported into the US has hit the makers hard. One can only imagine the effect if the department had slapped a 100% tariff on the companies, as the filers had wanted.

Solar makers Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Ltd. (NYSE: YGE), Trina Solar Ltd. (NYSE: TSL), Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (NYSE: STP), JA Solar Holdings Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ: JASO), and LDK Solar Co. Ltd. (NYSE: LDK) are trading down between -5% and -11% this morning. US solar makers First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) and Sunpower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWR) are also trading lower, likely because the miniscule tariffs won’t help their sales much either.

Yingli is down more than -10% at $3.83 in a 52-week range of $2.75-$13.14.

Trina Solar is down about -7% at $7.79 in a 52-week range of $5.28-$30.45.

Suntech is down -9% at $3.25 in a 52-week range of $1.70-$9.98.

JA Solar is down nearly -7% at $1.77 in a 52-week range of $1.21-$7.75.

LDK Solar is down nearly -6% at $4.29 in a 52-week range of $2.55-$12.42.

First Solar is down about -4.6% at $26.20 in a 52-week range of $25.29-$163.00.

Sunpower is down about -4.8% at $6.96 in a 52-week range of $4.94-$23.36.

Now that’s a litany of misery if ever there was one.

Paul Ausick