STR Holdings (STRI)

[rogermunibond]

STRI is a maker of solar panel components called encapsulants - basically a resin layer that coats the solar cell. Debt free they are projecting flat solar panel sales in 2012. They still generate $25 mil in free cash flow. Market cap is $160 mill and they hold around $50+ mill in cash, so very cheap to free cash flow yield. Their big driver of growth will be entering the Chinese market with a factory they are building, and then the grid parity point when solar doesn't need a subsidy to make sense for utilities and merchant power producers. They have close to 100% customer retention. Are agnostic to crystalline silicon versus thin film panels, and encapsulants is a necessary but relatively inexpensive component for solar panels.

 

4q earnings

 

http://phx.corporate-ir.net/External.File?item=UGFyZW50SUQ9MTMwNDQ4fENoaWxkSUQ9LTF8VHlwZT0z&t=1

 

Clean tech presentation

 

http://phx.corporate-ir.net/External.File?item=UGFyZW50SUQ9NDQ5NDc3fENoaWxkSUQ9NDczODk4fFR5cGU9MQ==&t=1

 

[rogermunibond]

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/str-holdings-inc-reports-first-200100727.html

 

1st quarter nasty due to an $80 million goodwill impairment but...

 

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/str-holdings-shares-soar-outlook-195513304.html

 

NEW YORK (AP) -- STR Holdings Inc. soared more than 30 percent Wednesday as investors reacted to the company's strong outlook for the year after a dismal first quarter.

 

STR, which makes solar module components, said Tuesday that it expects to earn between 25 and 35 cents per share on sales of $160 million to $170 million.

 

Analysts polled by FactSet forecast profit of 29 cents on revenue of $167.4 million.

 

STR sees growth picking up in the second half of the year. But its second-quarter profit outlook of break-even to 2 cents per share was below what analysts' expected and it posted a first-quarter loss of $82.1 million, or $2 per share, mostly to write-downs. Sales dropped by more than half, to $31.1 million.

 

Overproduction and a steep reduction in solar subsidies in Europe have hit the industry hard and kept prices low over the last year.

 

Robert Stone, an analyst with Cowan and Company, warned in a note to clients that many hurdles remain for the company, including industry wide uncertainty. He thinks the company can gain traction with sales in China, but he remains worried about demand in Europe. He trimmed his full-year forecast.

 

Investors remained optimistic, though. The stock gained $1.18, or 30.1 percent, to $4.99 in afternoon trading. Shares were coming off a year low of $3.56.