Solar Stocks’ Short Interest React to Chinese Government (CSIQ, FSLR, GTAT, WFR, SPWR, JASO, LDK, STP, TSL, YGE)

Photo of Paul Ausick
By Paul Ausick Updated Published
This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.

Solar rooftop installation
Thinkstock
We have tracked the short interest in the following North American Solar companies as of November 30th: 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 15.3% to 2.57 million shares, 8.5% of the company’s total float.

First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) short interest fall by 4.8% to 24.64 million shares, which represents 41% of the company’s float.

GT Advanced Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: GTAT) showed an increase of 1% in short interest, to 38.05 million shares, about 32.2% of GT’s float.

MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. (NYSE: WFR) showed a decline of 11.1% in short interest, to 21.52 million shares, about 9.4% of MEMC’s float.

Sunpower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWR) saw short interest fall by 1.2% to 4.55 million shares, 11.4% of the company’s total float.

JA Solar Holdings Co., Ltd. (NASDAQ: JASO) showed an increase of 7.7% in short interest, to 1.93 million shares.

LDK Solar Co. Inc. (NYSE: LDK) saw short interest drop 12% to 6.08 million shares.

Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (NYSE: STP) showed a drop of 2.4% in short interest, to 21.96 million shares.

Trina Solar Ltd. (NYSE: TSL) saw short interest rise 10.7% to 16.62 million shares.

Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. Ltd. (NYSE: YGE) showed a rise of 0.8% in short interest, to 5.6 million shares.

The major change among solar players is the announcement from the Chinese government that it will “reform” the industry by encouraging mergers and acquisitions, and by banning local governments from propping up local favorites with loans. This breathed some life back into LDK Solar, although the government has not been specific about which companies will last and which ones won’t.

Paul Ausick

Photo of Paul Ausick
About the Author Paul Ausick →

Paul Ausick has been writing for a673b.bigscoots-temp.com for more than a decade. He has written extensively on investing in the energy, defense, and technology sectors. In a previous life, he wrote technical documentation and managed a marketing communications group in Silicon Valley.

He has a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Chicago and now lives in Montana, where he fishes for trout in the summer and stays inside during the winter.

Featured Reads

Our top personal finance-related articles today. Your wallet will thank you later.

Continue Reading

Top Gaining Stocks

CBOE Vol: 1,568,143
PSKY Vol: 12,285,993
STX Vol: 7,378,346
ORCL Vol: 26,317,675
DDOG Vol: 6,247,779

Top Losing Stocks

LKQ
LKQ Vol: 4,367,433
CLX Vol: 13,260,523
SYK Vol: 4,519,455
MHK Vol: 1,859,865
AMGN Vol: 3,818,618