Energy
Amazing: Short Interest in Solar Stocks Cools Off (CSIQ, FSLR, GTAT, WFR, SPWR, JASO, LDK, STP, TSL, YGE)
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We tracked the short interest in the following North American Solar companies: Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSIQ), First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR), GT Advanced Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: GTAT), MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. (NYSE: WFR), and Sunpower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWR). In the Chinese solar sector we tracked the following short interest changes: JA Solar Holdings Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ: JASO), LDK Solar Co. Inc. (NYSE: LDK), Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (NYSE: STP), Trina Solar Ltd. (NYSE: TSL) and Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. Ltd. (NYSE: YGE).
For China-based firms, the percentage of shares short is not available because the companies are also listed on other exchanges.
Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSIQ) saw short interest fall 0.5% to 3.74 million shares, or 12.4% of the company’s total float.
First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) short interest rose 8.9% to 31.9 million shares, which represents a whopping 63.5% of the company’s float. The number of shares short is the highest in the past 12 months, although days to cover fell from about 8.5 to 3.2
GT Advanced Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: GTAT) showed a rise of 3.9% in short interest, to 29.2 million shares, about 24.8% of GT’s float.
MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. (NYSE: WFR) showed a drop of 2.9% in short interest, to 27.8 million shares, about 13.6% of MEMC’s float.
Sunpower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWR) saw short interest rise 12.5% to 4.5 million shares, 11.5% of the company’s total float.
JA Solar Holdings Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ: JASO) showed a drop of 1.1% in short interest, to 10.03 million shares.
LDK Solar Co. Inc. (NYSE: LDK) saw short interest drop 2.9% to 10.4 million shares.
Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (NYSE: STP) showed a drop of 12% in short interest, to 17.6 million shares.
Trina Solar Ltd. (NYSE: TSL) saw short interest drop 10.1% to 12.2 million shares.
Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. Ltd. (NYSE: YGE) showed a drop of 2.9% in short interest, to 6.1 million shares.
The drop in short interest for many of these firms is a result of two things. First, most are so low that it is hard to believe the stock will drop further. Second, First Solar posted a positive result in its most recent quarter, giving the shorts the idea that its stock will fall while the other solar players’ stock will rise, at least in the short term.
Paul Ausick
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