Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.
What: Shares of solar manufacturer Trina Solar Limited (NYSE: TSL) jumped 11% today after announcing earnings.
So what: Fourth-quarter revenue was down 4% sequentially to $525.6 million on a slight decline in module shipments. But the company did report net income of $9.6 million, or $0.13 per share, which was well ahead of the two-cent loss analysts expected.
Now what: It's a positive to be reporting a profit, but given that China installed around 12 GW of solar last year, the numbers could have been better. Still, Trina Solar has a better balance sheet and income statement than peers and may have the capacity to build the next generation of solar capacity this year or next. I don't think this was an outstanding report, because there wasn't much of a profit in an outstanding quarter for solar, but the market disagrees today, and shares were up big.
