Solar Stocks In Focus Following Strong Q1 Report From Trina Solar

Solar stocks were boosted higher on Thursday following

's strong first quarter print. Trina Solar reported an earnings of $0.16 per ADS, exceeding expectations of $0.09 per ADS. Sales for the quarter totaled $558.1 million, also higher than the $509 million analysts were expecting. During the quarter, the company realized total module shipments of 1.026GW and guided towards a second quarter module shipment in a range of 1.1GW to 1.14GW. For the full fiscal year, the company expects to realize PV module shipments of 4.4GW to 4.6GW. ""We are pleased to announce the strongest first quarter in our company's history," Jifan Gao, Chairman and CEO of Trina Solar said in a

"We exceeded our own guidance as well as market expectations. We maintained our leading position as one of the largest solar companies in the world, with record shipments of over 1 GW during what is traditionally the weakest quarter of the year. Our gross margin rose quarter-on-quarter from 15.7% to 18% as our cost reduction efforts continue to generate positive results which more than offset the decline in the average selling price during the quarter. We also recorded a more favorable geographic sales mix alongside stronger sales of our higher value-added products." Shares of Trina Solar jolted higher by more than 10 percent shortly after the ringing of Thursday's opening bell. The company's strong first quarter results had a mixed effect on the solar sector. Shares of

shares were higher by nearly four percent while shares of

were trading higher by 2.22 percent. Shares of

were lagging some of its peers, trading higher by nearly 0.50 percent. At the same time, shares of

were trading higher by only 0.30 percent. Shares of

were trading in negative territory, down nearly two percent. The move lower in the stock could be attributed to Roth Capital downgrading shares to Neutral from Buy with a price target slashed to $9 from a previous $18.