Solar Stocks Short Interest: Geography Matters (CSIQ, FSLR, GTAT, WFR, SPWR, JASO, LDK, STP, TSL, YGE)

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 0.4% to 3.72 million shares, 12.3% of the company’s total float.

First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) short interest fell 8% to 29.3 million shares, which represents 48.8% of the company’s float.

GT Advanced Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: GTAT) showed a decline of 5.1% in short interest, to 27.7 million shares, about 23.5% of GT’s float.

MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. (NYSE: WFR) showed a drop of 14.2% in short interest, to 23.9 million shares, about 10.4% of MEMC’s float.

Sunpower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWR) saw short interest fall 2.3% to 4.4 million shares, 11.2% of the company’s total float.

JA Solar Holdings Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ: JASO) showed a gain of 0.4% in short interest, to 10.07 million shares.

LDK Solar Co. Inc. (NYSE: LDK) saw short interest drop 3.9% to 10 million shares.

Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (NYSE: STP) showed a rise of 1.1% in short interest, to 17.8 million shares.

Trina Solar Ltd. (NYSE: TSL) saw short interest rise 7% to 13 million shares.

Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. Ltd. (NYSE: YGE) showed a rise of 4.2% in short interest, to 6.3 million shares.

The interesting thing to note here is that all but one of the Chinese solar makers saw a rise in short interest, and all the North American-based companies saw a drop. This could be a reaction to the new tariffs on Chinese imports, but a better explanation is that the Chinese makers continue to kid themselves into believing that all their overcapacity can be soaked up somehow.

Paul Ausick