These 2 Firms Aren't Concerned About SolarCity's Disappointing Q4 Earnings

SolarCity Corp SCTY reported fourth-quarter earnings on Wednesday that missed consensus estimates.

Industry experts are citing the fall in oil prices and increased competition as drivers of the overall decline in the solar industry. On a positive note, SolarCity added 96,659 customers in 2014 and added 25 operation centers. It plans to expand its operations by more than 50 percent this year.

Wall Street banks reacted to the news on Thursday:

• Morgan Stanley: "Although commercial growth was lower than the company had expected, we believe the incident was isolated and forecast substantial growth in demand for both the commercial and residential segments...we also see significant promise in the US commercial market given relatively high demand charges in certain territories."
• Deutsche Bank: "Fourth Quarter bookings were somewhat below our expectations and declined sequentially after 2 consecutive quarters of growth….but given the accelerating demand trends with the US market over the next few quarters, SCTY remains one of our top picks in the solar space.

Morgan Stanley rates SolarCity as In-Line with a $92 price target.

Deutsche Bank rates SolarCity as a Buy with a $90 price target.

Shares of SolarCity recently traded at $54.24, down 5 percent.