It's been a busy week in the solar sector. Earnings have been pouring in, and while they haven't been great, we are starting to see leaders emerge from the fog.
Amid all of the news, here are a few stories that may have slipped through the cracks.
Finding an advertising niche
In the U.S., solar products aren't really advertised prominently, but slowly we're starting to see manufacturers push solar through advertising. Yingli Green Energy (NYSE: YGE) was a major sponsor of the World Cup last summer, a relationship that will continue in 2014, and this week Canadian Solar (Nasdaq: CSIQ) announced it had formed a partnership with the Fulham Football Club.
I'm not sure what the correlation is between soccer and solar power, but manufacturers seem to like it.
Maybe crazed soccer fans were also contemplating how to be more energy efficient as they were playing those god-awful vuvezelas?
Is advertising a positive for solar? I guess time will tell.
Putting their money where their mouth is
Executives are always trying to put a positive spin on their companies no matter what is going on. But the best way to tell what they're really thinking is by watching if they're buying or selling shares of their own stock.
Five different First Solar (Nasdaq: FSLR) executives showed their confidence in the company by buying shares of stock on the open market recently.
This follows word that three other manufacturers -- LDK Solar (NYSE: LDK), JA Solar (Nasdaq: JASO), and Renesola (NYSE: SOL) -- would be buying back a combined $310 million of their own shares.
Maybe solar executives really do believe in this solar stuff after all?
Losses and progress?
We've covered most of the sector's earnings reports this week, but one divisive company also reported earnings. Energy Conversion Devices (Nasdaq: ENER) saw some progress, but losses continued to mount at the innovative company.
Revenue was back from the dead in the first quarter, climbing to $73.1 million, but the company still lost $42.1 million, or $0.84 per share, in the fiscal fourth quarter. More importantly, Energy Conversion Devices burned through $24.2 million in operating cash and an additional $38.4 million to purchase property and equipment.
Foolish bottom line
We have begun seeing leaders separate themselves as First Solar, Canadian Solar, and Yingli Green Energy reported solid, but not flashy, earnings this quarter.
Laggards began to fall behind, and while Evergreen Solar was the first casualty to the solar shakeout, it probably won't be the last.
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- Add Yingli Green Energy Holding to My Watchlist.
- Add ReneSola to My Watchlist.
- Add LDK Solar to My Watchlist.
- Add JA Solar Holdings to My Watchlist.
- Add First Solar to My Watchlist.
- Add Energy Conversion Devices to My Watchlist.
- Add Canadian Solar to My Watchlist.
