Rising Oil Prices Send Solar Stocks Up
Tuesday May 23, 3:55 pm ET
Solar Energy Stocks Climb As Oil Prices Head Higher
NEW YORK (AP) -- Shares of solar stocks soared in afternoon trading on Tuesday as investors sought refuge from soaring oil prices.
The price of light crude oil, which hit $72 on the New York Mercantile Exchange before settling to $71.76, was driven up by concerns about how Gulf Coast refineries will fare in this year's hurricane season.
As oil prices rocketed, investors turned to solar stocks, sending shares of companies such as Evergreen Solar Inc., a Marloboro, Mass.-based maker of solar power products, up 26 cents, or nearly 3 percent, to $10.70 in afternoon trading on the Nasdaq.
Shares of Evergreen may have also gotten a boost after Pacific Growth Equities analyst J. Michael Horwitz issued positive comments on the stock and reiterated his "Buy" rating.
"We remind investors that granular silicon is particularly advantageous in Evergreen Solar's proprietary String Ribbon solar module manufacturing technology. Completion of the plant is expected in late first-quarter 2008 with production expected to ramp in the third quarter of 2008," Horwitz wrote in a note.
Elsewhere in the sector, investors gobbled up other solar stocks including SunPower Corp., whose shares were up $1.46, or 5 percent, at $30.91; and shares of Energy Conversion Devices Inc. rose 72 cents to $41.32. Both stocks trade on the Nasdaq.
