Top 5 Solar Companies To Own In Right Now

Since March 2009, the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC  ) has recovered strongly from the major losses it suffered during the worst of the financial crisis. With the index up more than 150%, there's little excuse for any of its components to have lost ground. Yet among current S&P 500 members that have had their shares trade since the bear-market lows in early 2009, six have failed to gain any ground and posted in some cases substantial losses in the past four-and-a-half years. With the help of figures from S&P Capital IQ, let's take a look at these six S&P 500 losers to see if you should stay away or bet on a turnaround.

2 big turnaround stories
Among the six stocks, two have actually posted big gains over the past year. First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR  ) has made the biggest turnaround, almost doubling since October 2012. Yet even with those substantial gains, the stock has been a longer-term loser, falling almost 60% since early 2009. The reason for First Solar's struggles has largely been the rise of China's solar industry, which created so much overcapacity that it led to a price war that wiped out First Solar's once-huge cost advantages. Even as it has encouraged investors with its attempt to dominate the large-scale utility solar space, First Solar has largely missed out on the increasing growth of small-scale residential and commercial solar installation. In the near future, that could leave First Solar on the outside of the industry looking in at higher-growth competitors taking the spotlight.

5 Best Regional Bank Stocks To Invest In 2015: JinkoSolar Holding Company Limited(JKS)

JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of solar power products in China and internationally. The company provides solar modules, silicon wafers and ingots, and solar cells, as well as processing services, including silicon wafer tolling services. It sells its products under the JinkoSolar brand name. The company?s customers include distributors, project developers, and system integrators. It trades its products under short-term contracts and by spot market sales. The company also produces accessory materials for solar power products, such as solar aluminum frame, solar junction box, aluminum materials windows, and other metal component parts. JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd. was founded in 2006 and is based in Shangrao, the People?s Republic of China.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Seth Jayson]

  JinkoSolar Holding (NYSE: JKS  ) reported earnings on June 7. Here are the numbers you need to know.

  The 10-second takeaway
  For the quarter ended March 31 (Q1), JinkoSolar Holding beat expectations on revenues and exceeded expectations on earnings per share.

• [By Aaron Levitt]

  And already, the price rise is beginning to take shape. According to its latest report, GTM shows that Chinese solar producers like JinkoSolar (JKS) have priced their modules at 80 to 85 cents per watt for new deliveries. That compares to just to 70 cents per watt at the end of 2013.

Top 5 Solar Companies To Own In Right Now: Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited(YGE)

Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, development, manufacture, marketing, sale, and installation of photovoltaic (PV) products in the People?s Republic of China and internationally. The company offers PV cells, PV modules, and integrated PV systems, as well as polysilicon ingots, blocks, and wafers. It sells its PV modules to distributors, wholesalers, power plant developers and operators, and PV system integrators in Germany, the United States, Italy, China, Spain, the Netherlands, Greece, the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom, South Korea, and Japan under the Yingli and Yingli Solar brand names. The company also offers its integrated PV systems directly to end-users or to contractors for use in the electricity projects, as well as to mobile communications companies in the People's Republic of China. Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Baoding, the People? s Republic of China.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Wall Street Strategies]

  Naturally the news is a big positive for the industry, with Chinese solar names like Yingli (YGE), Trina (TSL), Canadian Solar (CSIQ) -- which is actually Chinese despite its name -- JinkoSolar (JKS), JA Solar (JASO), and LDK Solar (LDK) each up more than 10% at midday. The Guggenheim Solar ETF (TAN), which tracks several global solar companies, was up 8%, breaking to a new 52-week high.

• [By Paul Ausick]

  In the Chinese solar sector we tracked the following short interest changes: JA Solar Holdings Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ: JASO), LDK Solar Co. Inc. (NYSE: LDK), Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (NYSE: STP), Trina Solar Ltd. (NYSE: TSL) and Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. Ltd. (NYSE: YGE).�For China-based firms, the percentage of shares short is not available because the companies are also listed on other exchanges.

• [By Travis Hoium]

  The impact of solar tariffs
  About 80% of the polysilicon used in Chinese solar panels actually comes from the U.S., Europe, and South Korea; if costs go up 53%, they may have to look for alternatives. Yingli Green Energy (NYSE: YGE  ) has already warned that the tariffs will increase costs for Chinese suppliers and that some of the biggest manufacturers would likely be hit by the move. The effect really depends on where you sit, but most major module manufacturers import some of their polysilicon, even if they make the rest in-house.�

• [By Eric Volkman]

  Yingli Green Energy (NYSE: YGE  ) is to be the supplier to a large-scale solar power plant in its home continent of Asia. The company announced it had reached a deal for its Singapore subsidiary to supply over 10 MW of its multicrystalline photovoltaic modules to a solar facility in Malaysia.

Top 5 Solar Companies To Own In Right Now: Real Goods Solar Inc.(RSOL)

Real Goods Solar, Inc. operates as a residential and commercial solar energy integrator primarily in California and Colorado. The company provides engineering, procurement, and construction services. It offers various turnkey solar energy services, including design, procurement, permitting, build-out, grid connection, financing referrals, and warranty and customer satisfaction services. The company installs residential and small commercial systems that range between 3 kilowatts and 1 megawatt output. It also engages in the retail sale of renewable energy products. The company was founded in 1978 and is based in Louisville, Colorado.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Bryan Murphy]

  There's no denying that LDK Solar Co., Ltd (NYSE:LDK) has been a notable laggard this year compared to performances from First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) and Real Goods Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:RSOL). RSOL is up nearly 180% year-to-date, with a decent chunk of that gain unfurling in just the last couple of months. FSLR is up 25% for the year so far, though that more modest gain would have been much bigger had it not been for February's 24% plunge. Meanwhile, LDK shares are down 22% year-to-date, and have barely even blipped despite the fact that solar energy has become all the rage again in recent months.

• [By Bryan Murphy]

  Last Thursday when I suggested American Community (OTCMKTS:ACYD) was a stock that should be shed immediately, and replaced with a position in Real Goods Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:RSOL), I didn't win a lot of friends. After all, ACYD was the market's newest darling, in the middle of a red-hot runup, while RSOL was "just another solar name" that happened to be lucky enough to stumble its way above a key support line. Well, I hate to be the one to day I told you so, but, I told you so. American Community shares are down 35% since then, while Real Goods Solar shares are up 36% in the meantime. Both stocks seem pretty well entrenched in their current trends too.

• [By Bryan Murphy]

  Three weeks ago, I recommended Real Goods Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:RSOL) as a buy. Though the stock was still drifting in the shadow of a huge May pullback - from a high of $7.17 to a low of $2.13 by mid-June - RSOL was finding some support at key moving average lines, and even pushing up and off of them. Not many of you (and I'm using "you" interchangeably with "investors in general") seemed to care. So why am I looking at Real Goods Solar again now? Because, with competitors LDK Solar Co., Ltd (NYSE:LDK) and ReneSola Ltd. (NYSE:SOL) seeing their shares surge today, odds are good RSOL is going to get swept up in that move. Real Goods Solar shares are a better bet, however, in that - unlike SOL and LDK - they aren't overbought yet.

Top 5 Solar Companies To Own In Right Now: DAQQ New Energy Corp.(DQ)

Daqo New Energy Corp., together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells polysilicon in China. The company sells its polysilicon to photovoltaic product manufacturers for use in the processing of ingots, wafers, cells and modules for solar power solutions. It also produces and sells mono-crystalline and multi-crystalline modules to photovoltaic system integrators and distributors in China and internationally under its Daqo brand. The company was formerly known as Mega Stand International Limited and changed its name to Daqo New Energy Corp. in August 2009. Daqo New Energy Corp. was founded in 2006 and is headquartered Wanzhou, the People?s Republic of China.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Garrett Cook]

  Energy shares dropped around 0.22 percent in today’s trading. Top decliners in the sector included Daqo New Energy (NYSE: DQ), PDC Energy (NASDAQ: PDCE), and YPF SA (NYSE: YPF).

• [By Ali Berri]

  In trading on Friday, energy shares were relative leaders, up on the day by about 0.42 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Daqo New Energy (NYSE: DQ), up 9.4 percent, and Goodrich Petroleum (NYSE: GDP), up 6.2 percent.
  

• [By Garrett Cook]

  Energy shares dropped around 0.22 percent in today’s trading. Top decliners in the sector included Daqo New Energy (NYSE: DQ), PDC Energy (NASDAQ: PDCE), and YPF SA (NYSE: YPF).