A Big Upgrade for Suntech Power (STP)

A Big Upgrade for Suntech Power

Every day the sun rises on Wall Street and a plethora of professional analysts wake to issue new opinions on stocks. Here at the Fool, we examine some of these picks -- and the track record of the firm behind them -- so individuals can make better investing decisions.

In addition to following professional banks, anyone can use Motley Fool CAPS to monitor the collective opinions of more than 95,000 investors -- many of whom actually demonstrate better investing insight than published analysts.

In the case of Suntech Power (NYSE: STP ) , enough top-performing CAPS investors have turned bullish on the stock recently to upgrade it from a notable four-star rank to a tip-top five stars. With nearly 3,000 investors giving an opinion on Suntech, there's plenty of information in the various resources of CAPS as to why things are looking brighter for the company these days.

Since the solar industry is still budding, and influenced heavily by government policies and regulations, companies up and down the solar supply chain often see their stocks move in tandem. Suntech's stock has had its share of ups and downs lately -- shares more than doubled late in 2007, only to come spiraling back down early this year. Then just last week, renewed optimism coupled with a big new contract for peer Trina Solar (NYSE: TSL ) ignited shares of many in the solar industry, inducing double-digit gains in First Solar (Nasdaq: FSLR ) , LDK Solar (NYSE: LDK ) and Solarfun Power (Nasdaq: SOLF ) .

With Suntech in particular, many recent events have aligned to bring more investing bulls into the pen -- the company inked an eight-year polysilicon supply agreement, its forward earnings multiple is still below projected growth, and oil remains priced above $100 a barrel. With consumers increasingly concerned with the impact and cost of fossil fuels -- warranted or not -- alternative energy stocks continue to benefit. As such, more than 96% of the 2,927 investors rating Suntech believe it will beat the S&P going forward.

To see what the very best CAPS analysts are saying now about Suntech Power -- as well as other winning stocks they are picking -- head on over to CAPS and have a look. The community research and resources in CAPS are totally free, unlike analyst opinions reserved only for paying clients.

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Since being recommended by the Motley Fool Rule Breakers service in June of 2006, Suntech Power has returned 60%. To see what other rule-breaking stocks David Gardner is picking today, take a free 30-day trial.

Fool contributor Dave Mock recently upgraded his gambling skills from underperform to even odds. He owns no shares of companies mentioned here and is the author of The Qualcomm Equation. The Fool's disclosure policy is a sucker for policies written on parchment, donned with a tassel, and sealed with a wax kiss.

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