First Solar Sitting at Session Highs

First Solar

announced a restructuring plan on Tuesday morning in an effort to turnaround its faltering sun power business. The company said that it will dramatically curtail its manufacturing operations and eliminate 3,000 jobs, or roughly 30% of its work force. In addition, FSLR will be shuttering its Frankfurt, Germany plant and idling four production lines in Kulim, Malaysia. The company's stock price has been devastated over the last year amid stiff competition from Chinese solar panel makers and deep cuts in government subsidies in places like Germany. The stock has lost more than 83% of its value over the last 52-weeks, and was sitting near 52-week lows coming into Tuesday's trading session. The news of the company's restructuring plans, however, has made FSLR one of the hottest stocks on Wall Street during Tuesday's trading session. At last check, FSLR was sitting near intra-day highs, up 14% to $23.64. Most of the gains have come in the last half hour and short-term traders are flocking to this name for its volatility and and heightened liquidity in the wake of today's news.