12-21-2015, 05:45 AM
SunPower (SPWR)
- Another company that, like Jinko, might do well in the alternative energy boom is SunPower, which we prefer over First Solar (FSLR) because the 2016 guidance has been significantly better from them.
- This is also been a long-term favourite of ours, first advising to buy in 2012 when the stock was trading at just $4 (so they have almost seven folded, no less..)
- The recent tax credit extension in the US, it's home market removes a lot of uncertainty, hence their strong showing at the end of the week even in a rather large market selloff.
- SunPower makes high-efficiency panels and is majority owned by Total of France
- Fresh from a beating that pertained to many solar stocks with so called yieldco's (SunPower has one together with First Solar), the stock price has recovered, but we think they will pause, before taking the resistance. Considering the volatility in the shares, they could even retreat quite a bit, we'll keep an eye on this one.
Here is an interesting bit from an interview with the CEO about the consequences of the Paris climate deal for the secor (but the whole interview is a good read):
This Paris agreement will effect policy. So you take a country like India, which has a heterogeneous policy for energy. One state has one program, another state has another program, and they are at a real energy crossroads. They can go big coal, they can go big renewable. It’s difficult to translate into a homogenous set of policies, but this sends a strong signal to help accomplish that.
SunPower's CEO chats about Paris, tech and solar in India - Fortune
The attach rate [of batteries to solar projects] is still in the low single digit percentages. But I think that it will go up with a meaningful growth rate at 20% to 40% a year. I think it becomes a meaningful part of our business within 5 years.
SunPower's CEO chats about Paris, tech and solar in India - Fortune
And this was before the ITC was renewed, of course:
Does SunPower publicly support the extension of the ITC [which would maintain a 30% tax credit for clean energy projects]. Definitely. I would say that our position is clear. If there’s no ITC, you disrupt the solar industry, and in fact it already is being disrupted. The question is by how much? Will the industry go away? No. We’ll continue to innovate and get solar costs down. But 2017 will be a lot harder without the ITC. Will it be good for the solar industry for a longer term or even more intermediate view, like five years out? Yes. It’s abrupt changes that are hard to manage.
SunPower's CEO chats about Paris, tech and solar in India - Fortune