Solar Leads S&P Losers (FSLR, WFR)

It is a rather sad day when a screen shows that the two worst performing shares of the S&P indexes over the last year are both tied to solar.  We ran a screen at Finviz this morning and the two worst performers were First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) followed by MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc. (NYSE: WFR).

First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) is the loss leader after its earnings report: shares are down 20% in the last week but over the last year the stock is down 78%. Unfortunately, some now believe this one could ultimately flop entirely and we even wonder if the taxpayer will be on the hook here from DOE loan guarantees.

In second place over the last year is MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc. (NYSE: WFR), with its wafer operations for chip companies and solar companies.  The disaster here is even worse over a long period of time than what we have seen at First Solar.  Over the last year, this one is the second worse performer in the  with a drop of 70% over the last year.  Shares are down 11% in the last week.  With a market capitalization rate now under $1 billion, this one could be booted from the S&P 500 Index at the next rebalance or addition.

To show just how bad these are, MEMC now trades at $3.96 and its 52-week trading range is $3.65 to $13.78.  First Solar is down almost 6% today at $30.35 and the 52-week trading range is $29.87 to $163.00.