ENER Comes Into Its Own
April 30th, 2008 | by admin |As if anyone didn’t already know, First Solar FSLR lately has been CLASS=”TICKERFLAT”>WFR makes. Polysilicon, a key component in the manufacture of semiconductors and solar panels, remains in short supply due to rampantly growing demand for solar panels as well as industry production problems.
However, there’s another quality thin-film player out there beyond First Solar, and while it hasn’t been the stock market monster First Solar has been, it also isn’t trading at more than 20 times expected full-year sales.
That player is Energy Conversion Devices ENER, which is a pick in the TheStreet.com Breakout Stocks newsletter, and best characterized as the former redheaded stepchild of the solar industry before getting its act together in recent quarters with improving sales and cost controls.
Like First Solar’s, ECD’s solar panels do not use polysilicon and so the company isn’t feeling the heat of tight polysilicon supplies. ECD’s panels are lightweight and highly durable, which has given the company a strong position in the building materials market, since the panels don’t require any type of structural reinforcements. This reduces the cost and complexity of installation for customers, who can just pile the panels/>
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2008-04-30 06:59:54.0 American Apparel, E*Trade Join Stocks Under $10 Watch List
The retailer, despite some internal issues, is a grower. The>Your Recent Quotes:
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ENER was an Breakout Stocks pick src=”http://i.thestreet.com/files/tsc/v2008/css/images/arrow.gif” width=”10″ height=”7″ alt=”" />Learn More About Breakout StocksECD also has a wildcard up its sleeve in the form of a 39.5% stake in memory company Ovonyx. Ovonyx has pioneered phase-change memory (also commonly referred to as PCM or PRAM), a potential replacement for other forms of memory including flash. With companies like Samsung, Intel INTC, Qimonda QI and Hynix all exploring PRAM as a way to generate growth in the tough memory business, ECD’s stake in Ovonyx represents a potentially highly valuable call option CLASS=”TICKERFLAT”>GRMN, a stock I featured in an April 11 RealMoney.com column. The stock gets interesting in the $35 to $38 range, but there wasn’t anything in this morning’s earnings report that makes it a knife worth trying to catch.
(Editor’s note: TheBreakout Stocks model portfolio includes Energy Conversion Devices.)
