Michael Fowlkes
03/17/2014
Despite all the excitement surrounding solar energy over the
last couple of decades, the technology has yet to go mainstream.
However, that is slowly starting to change.
Perhaps the biggest reason for the slow spread of solar energy
has been the high cost associated with converting a household to
take advantage of solar energy. While the long-term savings can
be substantial for homeowners who convert their homes to solar
power, it can be hard to see the advantage of those savings when
considering spending upwards of $20,000 to make the change.
The good news is that for new homebuyers, the choice is now a
bit easier. Homebuilders have been increasingly offering solar
panels in new home construction, which makes it considerably
easier for homebuyers to outfit their homes with panels since the
initial cost is spread over the lifetime of a mortgage as opposed
to a one-time fee.
The benefits of solar panels to both homeowners and
municipalities are also catching the eye of various local
governments, and we have already seen two different towns in
California require solar panels installed on all newly
constructed homes.
While I remain optimistic that solar panel is going to assume
a more meaningful role in mainstream life, not everything is
going so smoothly at the current time. A big player in the
industry, First Solar Inc. (
FSLR
) recently ran into trouble after posting weaker than expected
fourth quarter results. Earnings were 89 cents per share, well
below the $1.03 consensus estimate. Quarterly revenues were $768,
sharply lower than the $969.4 million Wall Street had
forecast.
The company blamed lower revenues from commercial installs as
being the primary driver for the weak quarterly results.
In addition to the weaker than expected fourth quarter
results, First Solar also issued first quarter guidance in a
range of $0.50 to $0.60, well below the $0.81 expectation.
However, another top player in the industry, Chinese based
Trina Solar (
TSL
) was able to post strong quarterly results. The company boasted
a 73% year over year increase in revenues, and operating income
of around $14 million (up from a loss of $70 million in the
previous year.) The quarter was aided by strong sales growth in
China, where selling prices actually moved a bit higher.
Two other big companies in the industry, JinkoSolar (
JKS
) and SunPower Corp. (
SPWR
) each posted better than expected results for their recent
quarters.
A big reason why I remain bullish on the sector is that it
does appear as though solar energy is starting to gain traction,
particularly in the U.S. A recent report from the Solar Energy
Association indicates that solar energy is taking on a more
pivotal role in the U.S.
According to the report, solar represented
29% of all new electricity capacity
last year. That figure was up from just 10% in the previous year.
A big reason why solar panels are going up so fast can be tied
back to a drop in cost. During the fourth quarter of last year,
the average cost of a solar system was running at $2.59 a watt,
that is down 14% year over year, and a significant drop from the
$8 a watt average as recently as 2009.
Last September, we took our last look at the solar industry
and at the time I suggested that perhaps the best way to play the
industry was with a hedged option trade on the Guggenheim Solar (
TAN
) exchange-traded fund. The reason being that this ETF holds the
biggest names in the solar industry, so you could take advantage
of the overall strength of the industry, but shield yourself
against any volatility that may hit one or two stocks.
At that time, TAN was trading at $29.42, and I suggested
setting up a January 20/24 bull put credit spread with a target
return of 12.7%, or 36.4% o an annualized basis (for comparison
purposes only). As it turns out, the stock closed on January
expiration at $41.77, so investors who followed my advice easily
locked in their total return on the trade.
Chart
courtesy of
stockcharts.com
Now, I am once again going to look to set up a new hedged
trade on TAN. At the current time, I remain just as bullish on
the sector as I was back in September, but still believe that the
volatility within the sector warrants another hedged trade. Is it
possible that we could enjoy a better return by simply buying
shares of TAN at the current time? Sure, but in a volatile sector
like solar, it is better to be safe than sorry.
A nice hedged trade on TAN would be the July 31/35 bull put
credit spread. IN this trade, you would sell the July 35 put,
while at the same buying the same number of July 31 puts for a
credit of 40 cents. The trade has a target return of 11.1%, which
is 31.9% on an annualized basis (for comparison purposes only).
TAN is currently trading at $46.04, so the trade has 23.1%
downside protection.
Article source: http://www.nasdaq.com/article/solar-power-captures-investors39-attention-cm335792
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