LDK Solar (LDK) Kicks off Speculation Week with a Roar

I mulled buying a solar stock  (the smaller, and more Chinese the better) late last week in anticipation of the speculation that happens this week, almost like clockwork - year after year.  We just mentioned in the previous post:

But even more important than the market is what happens in individual stocks ... the most speculative of fare generally does well this week.... in this current era that means solar stocks, dry bulk shippers, Chinese small cap names, biotech names who don't have a chance to make a profit until 2027, and perhaps even the big 3 - Fannie, Freddie, and AIG. This is the week completely nonsense type of stocks surge 18% in a session followed by 14% the next day.

And LDK Solar (LDK) is lighting our fire with a "better than expected" earnings report, (beat by 37 cents) and raised guidance.

• Chinese solar wafer maker LDK Solar Co Ltd (LDK.N) reported a surprise third-quarter profit and guided towards better-than-expected fourth quarter sales and sequentially higher shipments. 
• For the fourth quarter, LDK forecast sales between $280 million and $310 million, way above analysts estimates of $258.7 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
• LDK now joins a growing list of Chinese solar companies that have signalled an uptick in demand.
• For the third quarter, LDK earned $29.4 million, or 27 cents per American depositary share (ADS), compared with earnings of $88.4 million, or 77 cents a share, last year.
• Sales, which nearly halved from a year ago, however rose nearly 24 percent sequentially to $281.9 million.  Analysts on average were looking for a loss of 10 cents a share, on revenue of $277.2 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

And in this sector, when one goes - they all go, as the student body rushes in.  TickerSpy has a list of all the Chinese solars here... there ain't (sic) no party like a Solarfun Power (SOLF) party.

No position