Lately the focus here has been on FSLR and a few of the top notch Chinese solar pv producers. Nothing has changed. First Solar looked good at $106, it looked good at $121 and it looks good today in the low $130's.
First Solar has the momentum. Solar has some energy again. It's quiet and it is ins't really that perceptible, but it's there.
It may have been the upgraded expectation that Credit Suisse made a few weeks back. Or maybe the general pick-up in the economy, or possibly the fact that oil keeps creeping back up. I happen to believe that Credit Suisse helped change the mood back in March. Not a lot of large financials were willing to say anything positive on solar or renewables until CS came along. Now a number of financials and analysts are buzzing on solar manufacturing.
Solar firms are getting better press and more of it. Look at a quick search of solar companies in February of 2010 compared against April of 2010. What you'll find is a sea change, not a loud one, but it is there.
I still think smaller players in the solar photovoltaic market are in trouble, but the larger Chinese producers and FSLR will be doing quite well over the next few months. The rally in the stock market is partly due to the rally in renewable energy stocks. And this success can essentially be traced back to Credit Suisse going against the grain and saying that solar stocks were looking decent.
That's one thing to keep in mind. No one is out there saying that solar firms are a steal or a great buy. And that is very good news. That means we are still on the edge of the rally in solar.
Stick with First Solar. They are expensive but they have so much institutional participation and can pick-up a lot of steam very quickly. Any good press or news release and FSLR is ready to fly.
FSLR is currently at $132 and there are many reasons we will watch this stock keep climbing. Investor energy is ready to get behind this issue.