Tariffs Bad for Most Solar Companies

By Travis Hoium – Jun 13, 2013 at 11:15AM

NASDAQ: FSLR

First Solar

Market Cap

$19B

Today's Change

(0.43%) $0.75

Current Price

$175.04

Price as of April 19, 2024, 4:00 p.m. ET

You might think there are big winners from solar tariffs but the reality is a lot of losers and few winners.

Solar tariffs in Europe started at a low 11% rate last week, but if a deal between Europe, China, and even the U.S. isn't reached by Aug. 6 then they could go up to as much as 68%. This is clearly a negative development for Chinese manufacturers like Yingli Green Energy (NYSE: YGE), LDK Solar (NYSE: LDK), and Trina Solar (NYSE: TSL), but it's not necessarily good for U.S. companies either. First Solar (FSLR 0.43%) has little presence in Europe right now and SunPower (SPWR -2.21%) won't see much benefit from tariffs either. In the end, tariffs are bad for nearly everyone, a sentiment Travis Hoium covers in the video below.

Fool contributor Travis Hoium manages an account that owns shares of SunPower and personally owns shares and has the following options: Long Jan 2015 $7 Calls on SunPower, Long Jan 2015 $5 Calls on SunPower, Long Jan 2015 $15 Calls on SunPower, and Long Jan 2015 $25 Calls on SunPower. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.