Evergreen Solar’s Drop Works for Would-Be Investors
Posted on Saturday, April 19th, 2008 | In Energy Markets, Stocks to Watch

Evergreen Solar, Inc. (Public, NASDAQ:ESLR) shares are trading right back it’s October 2007 range. Today’s 10% drop to $9.60 a share is all due to a missed Q2 08 guidance. Bad news for shareholders but for those of us waiting to get in, this could be our moment.
Today Evergreen Solar projected a net loss of $12 million, or 10 cents per share. The analysts had ESLR pegged for a loss of 9 cents per share for the period. Not a bad miss.
Then there’s the revenue miss, Evergreen projected revenue of $21.5 million to $22.5 million, while analysts expect $21.8 million in revenue. Strike 2.
But their first-quarter loss of less than a penny per share, beat analyst estimates of a 7 cents per share loss. Thus a bunt and a trip to 1st base.
Look, Solar stocks have had a tremendous run lately, this was bound to happen.
What’s good for Evergreen is that solar is finally catching on, they did score a 45% increase in sales for the first quarter, which is beyond good.
President and Chief Executive Officer Richard M. Feldt said the company will move to profitability in early 2009, when a plant under construction in two phases at Devens is running to capacity. New “Quad” furnaces that began arriving Tuesday will increase yield and efficiency and lower the cost of production to between $1.50 and $1.75 per watt, compared to about $2 per watt currently, he said.
“When we get Devens 1 and 2 operating, we’re going to be a nice, profitable company,” he said.
That’s always been the problem with ESLR, profits and when will it finally happen. But we’ve all seen how Evergreen’s stock works, they get some orders or the solar market gets positive press and their stock goes up.
Then there’s the silicon supply worry. That’s always been there and is only going to get worse before it gets better. But Evergreen’s patented crystalline silicon technology, known as String Ribbon, uses significantly less silicon than conventional approaches.
Thanks to Wall Street throwing ESLR under the bus, investors standing on the sidelines can make an entry position at the $9 level.
Disclaimer: The Author has no positions in ESLR.
Last 5 posts by Ben Stevens
- WaMu (WM) down to $3.60, Kerry you're Fired - September 8th, 2008
- Coal not so cool today: Arch Coal, Peabody fall hard (ACI, BTU) - September 2nd, 2008
- Another blow to the already beat down Whole Foods (WFMI) - August 10th, 2008
- $7 Buys you a pillow but not one share of JetBlue (JBLU) - August 4th, 2008
- AMD: Finally worth a look - July 19th, 2008
![]() About Ben Stevens (http://thestockmasters.com)
Ben Stevens previously ran the Stevens Stocks investing website. Ben's analysis and original reporting centers on events important to investors investing in the most active and popular stocks, mutual funds, ETF's, and bonds. |



