5-Star Stocks Poised to Pop: Suntech Power

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Based on the aggregated intelligence of 110,000 investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, solar panel-maker Suntech Power (NYSE: STP) has earned a coveted five-star ranking. Our data has shown that five-star stocks outperform the market by a significant margin; conversely, one-star stocks have woefully lagged the market average.

With that in mind, let's take a closer look at Suntech Power's business, and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.

Suntech facts

Headquarters (Founded)	Wuxi, China (2001)
Market cap	$5.65 billion
Industry	Electrical components & equipment
TTM revenue	$1.54 billion
Management	CEO Zhengrong Shi (since 2001) CFO Amy Yi Zhang (since 2005)
Return on equity (avg. last two years)	22.3%
CAPS members bullish on STP also bullish on	Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) First Solar (Nasdaq: FSLR)
CAPS members bearish on STP also bearish on	SunPower (Nasdaq: SPWR) General Motors (NYSE: GM) Baidu.com (Nasdaq: BIDU)

Sources: Capital IQ, a division of Standard & Poor's, and Motley Fool CAPS. TTM = trailing 12 months.

Over on CAPS, fully 1,009 of the 1,039 All-Star members who have rated Suntech -- 97% -- believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These All-Star bulls include my Foolish colleague TMFSinchiruna and mm2001, both of whom are ranked in the top 2% of our community.

In March, TMFSinchiruna said Suntech is: "a great company in a sector that makes just too much sense in a rising oil price environment. I believe solar will be a big part of the planet's solution to its energy woes, and China is the most de-coupled of all foreign economies."

Less than a month ago, mm2001 followed that bullish logic, stressing Suntech's scintillating valuation:

While oil continues its rise due to limited resources and high demand, the solar industry is headed for a decline in costs that will make it a mainstream power option in the years to come.

China's Suntech Power is one of the big solar players, the world's third largest producer of photovoltaics in 2007, and rapidly growing. It produced nearly as much PV in the first half of 2007 as it did in all of 2006, and growth isn't expected to slow anytime soon.

Suntech is currently trading in the mid to high 30s (down from $90 earlier this year), which gives it a 32 P/E ratio for the 12 trailing months, and a 15 P/E for 2009 estimated earnings-modest numbers for a big-opportunity, high-growth company. Given the above, Suntech is attractively priced and a worthy addition not only to a Rulebreaker's portfolio.

What do you think about Suntech Power, or any other stock for that matter? Make your voice heard on Motley Fool CAPS today. More than 110,000 investors are waiting to hear what you have to say. CAPS is 100% free, so simply click here to get started.