First Solar tops S&P, but energy stocks lag
new
March 6, 2013, 12:28 p.m. EST
By Claudia Assis, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Solar stocks outshone peers Wednesday, a
dim trading session for energy stocks, with shares of First Solar Inc.
topping S&P 500 gainers.
Dow rally just might have legs
Tuesday's record rally pushed the blue-chip average over the proverbial hump, leaving many investors wondering how much room the Dow has left to run. Photo: Getty Images
Shares of First Solar
FSLR
+5.12%
rose 6.5% after analysts at Raymond James upgraded the stock and others to market perform from underperform
Raymond James also upgraded SunPower Corp.
SPWR
+1.92%
, Suntech Power Holdings Co.
STP
-1.65%
, and Trina Solar Ltd.
TSL
+0.48%
to market perform. U.S.-listed shares of SunPower rose 3.9%, while U.S.-listed shares of Trina rose 1.2%.
Suntech fell 1.2%.
The Raymond James analysts offered a pragmatic view of solar stocks, which got whacked just last week.
First Solar
Since then, however, the risk/reward balance “has shifted towards a more
neutral stance,” the analysts said. The stocks are down more than 13%
from 52-week highs set earlier this year. After that rally and the
subsequent trough, a “more rational” trading is likely to return, they
said.
And, unlike 2012, when solar stocks rallied early but were down 33% at
the end of the year, the downside for 2013 is more limited, the Raymond
James analysts said.
Meanwhile, shares of Exxon Mobil Corp.
XOM
-0.29%
declined 0.4%. Exxon said during an investor event on Wednesday it will
increase spending on energy projects by $1 billion, bringing capital
spending to about $190 billion in the next five years.
Exxon also said production of oil and other liquids is expected to
increase an average 4% a year from 2013 to 2017 as 28 oil and gas
projects start production.
Chevron has an investor day scheduled for Tuesday. Analysts at UBS said
the company is expected to reiterate its capital expenditure budget of
$37 billion and highlight a more active 2013 exploration program.
Shares of Hess Corp.
HES
-0.66%
rose 0.6%.
Elliott Management, a top Hess shareholder that has been pressuring the
energy company for more changes, criticized Hess Chief Executive John
Hess for sending a letter to another activist hedge fund, Relational
Investors, saying Hess has resorted to “scare tactics.”
Relational had sent a letter to Hess’ board on Tuesday in support of Elliott Management’s proposals for Hess.
U.S.-listed shares of BP PLC
BP
+0.44%
rose 0.5%. BP Chief Executive Bob Dudley said at an industry gathering
that the company plans to spend $4 billion a year in the Gulf of Mexico
for the next decade. BP is also committed to Russia, Dudley said.
The BP civil trial in New Orleans continued this week, with testimony
from an expert witness on well monitoring and well control. Read MarketWatch's continuous updates on the BP trial
Claudia Assis is a San Francisco-based reporter for MarketWatch. Follow her on Twitter @ClaudiaAssisMW.
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