What happened
Thanks to the latest pronouncements from a pair of analysts, Enphase Energy (ENPH 3.80%) was quite the energetic stock on Thursday. The company's share price vaulted almost 7% higher on the day, well ahead of the 1.3% gain of the S&P 500 index.
So what
The first of the two moves came from Deutsche Bank. Corinne Blanchard tipped the stock as one of her bank's catalyst call buy ideas. Her take is based on what she considers to be significant price weakness: The shares have lost 24% of their value so far this year.
In her view, this is due to management's "cautious" forecast for U.S. residential demand, in addition to discouraging trends in the California market. These projections were offered in January; since then, according to Blanchard, both situations seem to have improved notably.
Despite this, the analyst made a slight cut to her price target on Enphase stock, to $280 per share from the previous $285. She maintained her buy recommendation, however.
Bolstering the bull case for Enphase was sprawling international bank HSBC. It initiated coverage on the stock with a buy recommendation, setting a price target of $271. That implies potential upside of nearly 30% on the current level. The reasoning behind HSBC's optimistic take wasn't immediately clear.
Now what
Enphase stock looks set to go for a ride upward. The company provides components for residential solar and energy-storage systems, and as such is well poised to take advantage of the continuing move toward greener energy solutions.
