Stock Market News & Stocks to Watch from StraightStocks » Akeena Solar

USA to become the world’s largest solar energy market

Dawn Van Zant — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 13:00:00 +0000

Rotterdam, The Netherlands, Munich, Germany -- 1 April 2009 - "In 2010, PV will be by far the most cost-effective way of generating electricity. The solar PV market in California will explode once people discover that they can generate their own rooftop power for less than it costs from their utility," says Barry Cinnamon, long-term expert, CEO and founder of solar system integrator Akeena Solar in California.

Akeena Solar Powers This Sunday Night’s ‘Extreme Makeover: Home Edition’ On ABC

Dawn Van Zant — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 13:00:00 +0000

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif., March 27, 2009 -- When the Emmy Award-winning hit reality TV show "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" was looking to build the ultimate green home for a deserving family in San Bernardino, they chose the high performing, sleek and beautiful design of Andalay solar panels distributed by leading solar designer and installer Akeena Solar (NasdaqCM:AKNS).

Akeena (Nasdaq:AKNS) Lowers Guidance for FY2008, Global Hunter’s Cable Maintains NEUTRAL rating

Small Cap Pulse — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 00:57:00 +0000

December 16, 2008 ndash; Analyst Comments ndash; Global Hunterrsquo;s Justin Cable weighed in today on Akeena Solar (Nasdaq:AKNS) a downstream solar company whose stock has been battered in recent months on concerns about widening losses and slowdown in solar project spending in the midst of the current recessionary environment. Cable maintained his NEUTRAL rating, and his previously lowered his price target of $2.50 (Cable had lowered his target on AKNS from $5 to $2.50 back on November 7). Akeena this morning issued revised guidance for FY2008 lowering its estimated Y/Y revenue growth to a range of 25% to 30% from 30% to 40%, citing delays in installations on a few of its larger commercial projects. Cable noted that he had already been assuming 30% growth in his revised estimates, which is the basis for his maintaining existing targets, but also noted that he advises staying on the sideline until the business shows more progress on getting to breakeven cash flow. As it stands, at $1.75 this morning, the stock is holding a $52 million market cap, about 1.23x this yearrsquo;s sales, assuming 30% Y/Y growth. pa href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/smallcappulse/feed?a=BX2ChB"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/smallcappulse/feed?i=BX2ChB" border="0"/img/a/p

Global Hunter’s Justin Cable Weighs in on Akeena (Nasdaq:AKNS) and Altair Nano (Nasdaq:ALTI)

Small Cap Pulse — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 21:52:00 +0000

November 7, 2008 – Analyst Notes – Global Hunter’s Justin Cable issued the comments on Akeena Solar (Nasdaq:AKNS), maintaining his NEUTRAL stance and lowering his price target to $2.50 from $5.00 and Altair Nanotechnologies (Nasdaq:ALTI), maintaining his SELL rating and lowing his price target to $1.00 from $1.50. Here are his takeaways: Akeena · Q3 revenues beat by 15% · Net loss for quarter larger than expected · Gross margin was 12.7% vs. estimated 17% · Increase in debt · Increase in backlog · Installed 1,290kw in quarter versus 854 in prior quarter · Higher inventory · Guidance maintained by management – 30% to 40% revenue growth for FY08 and EBITDAS breakeven in second half of FY2009 Altair · Revenues still minimal · Significant losses continue · Cash of $33.7 million · Yet to see material orders We think Cable’s assessments on both companies is right on. In fact, we would probably be more conservative, and assume a forward price to sales multiple on AKNS of 1.5x forward sales (which we estimate to be in the middle of management’s guidance at $43.4 million). This would yield an implied market cap of $65.2 million, or a $2.30 stock price. It is tough to offer up AKNS any more aggressive multiples in light of the fact that it continues to hemorrhage cash and is quarters off from profitability. On the other hand, some other pros are willing to offer up more optimistic analysis. Earlier this week, Kaufman reiterated its BUY recommendation on AKNS, although it did reduce its price target from $12 to $6. Important Disclosure: SCPEditor does not hold any position in AKNS or ALTI. The information and trades provided here and in the comments are for informational purposes only and are not a solicitation to buy or sell any of these securities. Investing involves substantial risk and you should evaluate your own risk levels before you make any investment. Past results are not an indication of future performance.

ITC Extended In Senate – We Like HOKU (Nasdaq:HOKU),LDK Solar (NYSE:LDK) & Premier Power (PPRW.OB)

Small Cap Pulse — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 18:57:01 +0000

September 24, 2008 –The Senate passed a much anticipated tax package yesterday, which, amongst other things, renews the Investment Tax Credits (ITC) for alternative energy. This is a huge win for the renewable and clean tech industry, and frankly, we are surprised it didn’t hit heavier headwinds in the Senate vote – only 2 voted against the broader tax package. Perhaps its passage was a benefactor of a Senate that is focusing itself on the crisis in the financial markets and the proposed $700 billion bailout plan. Regardless, the passage of the extended tax credits will buoy the sector, drive growth and bode well for solar, wind, geothermal, clean tech, and other renewable energy companies. Under the bill, wind will get a single year of tax credit extensions, solar gets eight, tidal gets two. Buyers of PHEVs will get anywhere from $2,500 to $7,500 back. The eight-year extension of the investment credit for solar energy would more than triple investment during that period, to $325 billion, and almost triple employment in the industry, to 440,000 in 2016, according to the Solar Energy Industries AssociationPredictably, solar stocks reacted immediately to the news yesterday, and we expect that they will outperform on the news. Companies that we like in each of the solar segments, and that we think will benefit strongly from the ITC extension include: Upstream (polysilicon manufacturers): HOKU Scientific (Nasdaq:HOKU) – impressive $2.3 billion backlog, strong revenue visibility through 2020, smartly getting significant up-front prepayments on contracts to pay for its plant being built will reduce need to dilute shareholders. Stock closed yesterday at $6.40, with a $130 million market cap and our 12-month target for the stock is in the $15-$17 range. See our previous commentary on the stock. Midstream (wafer and module makers): LDK Solar (NYSE:LDK) – multi-billion backlog, leading wafer manufacturer becoming vertically integrated which will improve margins, expanding wafer capacity to 1,100MW in 2008 to 2,000MW in 2009, wafer backlog of 610MW in 2008, 1,200MW in 2009, 1,512MW in 20010 and 9,160MW from 2011-2018, strong revenue growth ($105 million in 2006, $523 million in 2007 and $1 billion+ expected in 2008) with equally impressive gross profit and net income growth (net income grew from $25.9 million to $139.1 million from 2006 to 2007). Stock closed yesterday at $34.92, trading at 13.49x P/E (ttm), earning $2.59 per share and at a $3.72 billion market cap. Our 12-month target for the stock is in the $63-$70 range. See our previous commentary on the stock. Downstream (integrators): Premier Power (OTCBB:PPRW) – a best-in-class integrator focused on commercial markets in the U.S. and Europe, has growth revenue from $16.7 million in 2007 to more than $48 million contracted this year, unlike so many of its peers, Premier has managed to grow profitably, which we think should put it in a position to demand a premium to peers like Akeena Solar (Nasdaq:AKNS). The stock closed at $5.25 yesterday, holding an approximately $152 million market cap. We haven’t arrived at a price target on this one yet, but we think that with the extension of the ITC, and Premier’s already demonstrated ability for strong revenue expansion while maintaining profitability in challenging market conditions bode well for stock appreciation. Important Disclosure: SCPEditor is LONG HOKU, LDK and PPRW, and is a principal of Aspire Clean Tech Communications, which is the corporate communications advisor to PPRW. It is paid $7,500 by PPRW on a monthly basis for a period of 12 months beginning in September and has been compensated by 30,000 shares for the 12-month period. The information and trades provided here and in the comments are for informational purposes only and are not a solicitation to buy or sell any of these securities. Investing involves substantial risk and you should evaluate your own risk levels before you make any investment. Past results are not an indication of future performance.