GT Solar
On second thought, maybe it wasn't so crummy after all. GT Solar's fourth-quarter numbers are out, and they're shockingly strong.
Revenue ratcheted up 46% sequentially, to $205 million, while per-share earnings climbed 58%. Gross margins held steady while operating margins ticked up a bit.
Upon closer inspection, GT Solar's business is incredibly lumpy. Last quarter, the firm recognized zero revenue in its polysilicon segment, which primarily provides chemical vapor deposition reactors. This quarter, GT reported $95.8 million of sales on the poly side, and more than 95% of that came from a single order with DC Chemical!
I now understand why people totally freaked when LDK Solar
A corollary to my customer concentration concerns is the fact the in-house equipment supply enjoyed by all the incumbents in the upstream solar biz, from Hemlock to REC Group to MEMC Electronic Materials
The most redeeming quality here has to be the balance sheet. While Suntech Power