3 Reasons to Sell SunPower Today

By Dave Mock
September 25, 2009 | Comments (1)

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The turmoil in the markets makes it too easy to justify selling any stock these days. Yet while panic never helps investors, it's still a good idea to play devil's advocate with investments.

Consider solar component and systems maker SunPower (Nasdaq: SPWRA). Though the sector shows plenty of promise, you'll find a few of the 1,569 Motley Fool CAPS members who've weighed in on the company offering reasons to be bearish.

At The Motley Fool, we like to consider both the good and bad sides of an investment. Here, I'll highlight three of the main bearish arguments on SunPower. Be sure to read the bullish side, and then offer your own comments below -- or rate SunPower in CAPS.                                         

1. Oversupply
According to a recent report by iSuppli, inventories are spiking in the solar supply chain because of low demand. While companies such as Trina Solar (NYSE: TSL) are planning to crank up capacity, the credit crunch has dried up funding for projects, and countries such as Spain have cut back incentives. The combination of the excessive market push and the limited customer pull has many investors concerned about the effect on prices.

2. Courting demand
While U.S. and Chinese stimulus dollars are expected to help demand for solar power, some investors don't think it's nearly enough to drive the industry up in the near term. Reacting to an forecast of oversupply and weak demand, one Jefferies analyst recently downgraded a slew of solar stocks including SunPower, Suntech Power (NYSE: STP), Solarfun Power (Nasdaq: SOLF), and Energy Conversion Devices (Nasdaq: ENER). And a Soleil Securities analyst had a similar negative opinion of First Solar (Nasdaq: FSLR).

3. Short on cash flow
SunPower tapped the capital markets in May with a dilutive offering to pick up more cash, and like Evergreen Solar (Nasdaq: ESLR), it has been lacking in its ability to generate free cash flow. As of the latest quarter, it had burned through more than $130 million in cash over the past year.  

To see details of what CAPS members are saying now about SunPower, just click on over to Motley Fool CAPS and have a look -- or add your own thoughts in the comments box below.

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Fool contributor Dave Mock owns no shares of companies mentioned here. First Solar and Suntech Power are Rule Breakers selections. The Fool's disclosure policy always packs its SPF-50 sunscreen for a day at the beach.

Comments from our Foolish Readers

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  • Report this Comment On September 25, 2009, at 11:10 PM, jrmart wrote:

    Jim Cramer of MadMoney always recommends First Solar even though their thin film solar panels only operate at 16% efficiency. Other so called experts recommend lots of other small start up solar companies that are not even profitable. In the article above, Dave Mock talks about over supply, courting demand and short on cash flow as the three reasons to sell SunPower.

    Sorry Dave, you should have waited to read today's press release about SunPower's new 100 MEGAWATT POWER PLANT being constructed in Italy before you wrote your LAME BRAIN ARTICLE about the three reasons to sell SunPower.

    FLORIANA, Malta and MILAN, Sept 22, 2009 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX News Network/ -- SunRay Renewable Energy and SunPower Corp. (Nasdaq: SPWRA, SPWRB), a manufacturer of high-efficiency solar cells, solar panels and solar systems, today announced an agreement under which they are building a 24-megawatt solar electric power plant in Montalto di Castro, Italy. The 80-hectare Montalto di Castro solar project is being financed by a consortium of primary international and Italian banks and, upon its completion at year-end, will be the largest operating solar power plant in Italy.

    The plant began construction earlier this year, and has created more than 200 local jobs. The clean, renewable solar power generated by the plant will provide electricity locally, and contribute to Italy's national electric grid. The site will also have a fully equipped visitor center focusing on the education of the local community and school children about renewable energy.

    "In addition to delivering commercial benefits to the community, Montalto di Castro is designed to integrate seamlessly into the surrounding countryside and preserve the local ecosystem," said Giora Salita, head of business development for SunRay. "SunPower's unrivaled global experience in the design and construction of solar power plants will help ensure that the finished project is the pride of the local community today and for many generations in the future."

    SunRay is the developer and owner of the project and selected SunPower to design and construct the power plant and provide on-going operations and maintenance services. SunPower is installing SunPower panels, the most efficient solar panels commercially available, and the proprietary SunPower(R) Tracker technology at the site. The Tracker follows the sun during the day and delivers up to 25 percent more energy than fixed-tilt systems, while significantly reducing land use requirements. This project is the first phase of a planned 100-megawatt development that is expected to be fully operational in 2010.

    Dave, you need to substantially increase the amount of First Solar thin film solar panels to match the power output from SunPower's more efficient panels utilizing a SunTracker(R) System.

    Why do you think the Department of Energy building in Washington, DC has a SunPower system on their roof? Why do you think WalMart, JCPenny, Macy, HP, AMD, etc. are installing Sunpower systems on their buildings all over the country?

    Wake up Cramer and Dave Mock, two years ago First Solar was great. Now that silicon costs have come way down, the clear winner today is SunPower which offers the most efficient solar panels on the planet, (25% more efficient than their closest competitor) and when you couple that with their SunTracker(R) System, nobody can match SunPower total power output when space requirements are limited.

    To get the same power output as generated by a SunPower system, most competitors would have to double the roof space which may not be possible. They would also require more solar panels, which would increase installation costs, maintenance and wiring costs.  That’s why residential, business, government (Portugal, Spain, Germany, Australia, Korea, Italy, etc.) and utility customers rely on SunPower's experience and proven results to maximize return on their investment which now totals well over 1 billion dollars in SunPower systems.

    By the way if you do buy any SunPower shares, try to buy the preferred shares SPWRB which offer 8 to 1 voting rights.

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