NEW YORK (AP) — Two Chinese solar power companies posted third-quarter losses Wednesday and forecast weak demand for solar panels during the rest of the year.
The solar power industry has been battered by low demand and low prices for solar panels. Both Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Ltd. and ReneSola Ltd. said they lost millions in the most recent quarter and expected orders to remain weak.
A group of U.S. solar companies filed a federal trade complaint last month alleging that Chinese companies were dumping supplies on global markets to depress prices.
Jiashan, China-based ReneSola Ltd. said it lost $8.2 million, or 9 cents per American depositary share, during the most recent quarter. That's down sharply from net income of $60.1 million, or 70 cents per ADS during the prior-year period.
An American Depositary Share is like a share of stock in a foreign company that is issued by a U.S. depository bank. It allows U.S. investors to buy foreign stocks in dollar-denominated shares that are often subject to the same disclosure regulations as normal U.S. stocks.
ReneSola Ltd. said its revenue for the quarter fell sharply to $189.1 during the quarter, compared to $358.7 million during the same period last year.
The results were worse than the loss of 15 cents per ADS on sales of $209.2 million that analysts expected, according to FactSet.
Baoding, China-based Yingli Green Energy Holding Company said it lost $28.3 million, or 18 cents per ADS, during the quarter ended Sept. 30. That's down from net income of $68.2 million, or 44 cents per American Depositary Share during the same period last year.
The company said revenue during the quarter was $667.7 million, compared to $490.9 million during the prior year period. Sales in the recent quarter topped the $659.6 million that analysts expected.
Yingli Green Energy also reported an adjusted net loss of 14 cents per ADS, which was in line with analysts' expectations.
Despite the results, shares of both companies jumped, even as broader market indexes fell. Shares of Yingli Green Energy surged 42 cents, or nearly 12 percent, to close at $3.96. ReneSola rose 12 cents, or nearly 7 percent, to close at $1.86.
Investors were happy that the results weren't worse, said Benjamin Schuman, a senior analyst with Pacific Crest Securities. He said solar panel companies have been preannouncing negative earnings results over the past few weeks. Even though the earnings released Wednesday are below expectations in most respects, they're still better than the low expectations analysts had, Schuman said.
The rest of the year still looks tough.
Yingli Green Energy cut its estimated production capacity for the rest of the year. The company now expects to ship between 1,580 megawatts to 1,630 megawatts for the full fiscal year 2011. That's down from the previous estimate of shipping between 1,700 megawatts and 1,750 megawatts for the year.
Yingli Green Energy Holding Company said its shipments will still be between 49 percent to 54 percent higher than during fiscal 2010.
ReneSola also cut its production forecasts, saying it now expects solar wafer and module shipments to be between 280 megawatts and 300 megawatts with revenue between $140 million and $150 million. That's below the $200.2 million that analysts expected.
Even though the company's shares jumped Wednesday, they are still at low levels for the year. ReneSola has traded as high as $13.25 over the last year while Yingli Green Energy hit a high of $13.59 in the past 52 weeks.
