10 Best Solar Stocks To Buy For 2015

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MARKET SNAP: At 6:00 a.m. ET, S&P 500 futures up 0.3%. 10-Year Treasury yield higher at 2.52%. Nymex up 77 cents at $103.10. Gold 0.1% lower at $1293.30. In Europe, FTSE 100 down 0.2%, DAX up 0.2% and CAC 40 flat. In Asia, Nikkei 225 down 0.2% and Hang Seng up 0.01%.

WATCH FOR:� No major economic data on dap. American Eagle, Booz Allen, Eaton Vance(EV), Hormel Foods(HRL), L Brands(LB), Lowe's(LOW), NetApp, PetSmart(PETM), Renren(RENN), Sina, Target, Tiffany, Trina Solar(TSL) and Williams-Sonoma(WSM) are among companies scheduled to report quarterly results.

10 Best Solar Stocks To Buy For 2015: Renesola Ltd.(SOL)

ReneSola Ltd, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of solar wafers and solar power products. It offers virgin polysilicons, monocrystalline and multicrystalline solar wafers, and photovoltaic cells and modules. The company also provides cell and module processing services. Its products are used in a range of residential, commercial, industrial, and other solar power generation systems. The company sells its solar wafers primarily to solar cell and module manufacturers. It principally operates in Mainland China, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Korea, India, Australia, Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium, France, the Czech Republic, and the United States. The company was founded in 2003 and is based in Jiashan, the People?s Republic of China.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By James Brumley]

  Which solar power stocks are the proverbial picks of the litter, though? Here are the first five a newcomer might want to consider.

  ReneSola Ltd. (SOL)

  While most solar stocks have done incredibly well so far in 2014, ReneSola (SOL) wasn’t one of them. In fact, SOL stock is a bit unusual in that it’s trading well under its October high of $6 per share. That’s not a bad thing, though. In fact, it may work to your advantage because it gives new buyers a chance to scoop up ReneSola shares at a bargain price before their next big run-up.

• [By Paul Ausick]

  Provided that the Chinese government either encourages or permits consolidation, any of these three could be an acquirer. The likeliest target, of course, is SunTech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (NYSE: STP), which is reorganizing and which the government has already seemed to give up on. Other possible targets include ReneSola Ltd. (NYSE: SOL) and JinkoSolar Holding Co. Ltd. (NYSE: JKS).

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  But Trina gave a troubling update to its quarterly guidance a couple weeks ago, saying that it shipped 390-400 megawatts of solar modules during the quarter, down from its original 420-430 megawatt estimate. With gross margins of just 1% to 3%, Trina isn't faring as badly as peer ReneSola (NYSE: SOL  ) , which posted negative gross margins in its quarterly report earlier this month. Yet Trina still isn't making enough money to come close to profitability in the near future.

10 Best Solar Stocks To Buy For 2015: Real Goods Solar Inc.(RSOL)

Real Goods Solar, Inc. operates as a residential and commercial solar energy integrator primarily in California and Colorado. The company provides engineering, procurement, and construction services. It offers various turnkey solar energy services, including design, procurement, permitting, build-out, grid connection, financing referrals, and warranty and customer satisfaction services. The company installs residential and small commercial systems that range between 3 kilowatts and 1 megawatt output. It also engages in the retail sale of renewable energy products. The company was founded in 1978 and is based in Louisville, Colorado.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Bryan Murphy]

  There's no denying that LDK Solar Co., Ltd (NYSE:LDK) has been a notable laggard this year compared to performances from First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) and Real Goods Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:RSOL). RSOL is up nearly 180% year-to-date, with a decent chunk of that gain unfurling in just the last couple of months. FSLR is up 25% for the year so far, though that more modest gain would have been much bigger had it not been for February's 24% plunge. Meanwhile, LDK shares are down 22% year-to-date, and have barely even blipped despite the fact that solar energy has become all the rage again in recent months.

• [By John Udovich]

  Small cap solar stock Andalay Solar Inc (OTCMKTS: WEST) has largely cratered for investors�verses solar stock peers Real Goods Solar, Inc (NASDAQ: RSOL) and SolarCity Corp (NASDAQ: SCTY), but is the company finally turning itself around after a failed deal to be acquired?

Top 5 Forestry Stocks To Own Right Now: JA Solar Holdings Co. Ltd.(JASO)

JA Solar Holdings Co., Ltd., through its subsidiaries, engages in the design, development, manufacture, and sale of photovoltaic solar cells and solar products, which convert sunlight into electricity in the People's Republic of China. The company?s principal products include monocrystalline and multicrystalline solar cells, as well as various solar modules. It also provides silicon wafer and solar cell processing services. The company sells its products primarily under the JA Solar brand name, as well as produces equipment for original equipment manufacturing customers under their brand names. It sells its solar cell and module products primarily to module manufacturers, system integrators, project developers, and distributors in the Germany, Italy, the United States, Hong Kong, Spain, India, the Czech Republic, France, and South Korea. The company has strategic partnerships with various solar power companies, such as BP Solar, Solar-Fabrik, and MEMC/SunEdison. JA Solar Holdings Co., Ltd. was founded in 2005 and is based in Shanghai, the People?s Republic of China.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Anna Prior]

  Among the companies with shares expected to actively trade in Monday’s session are Citigroup Inc.(C), JA Solar Holdings(JASO) Co and Chindex International Inc.(CHDX)

• [By Paul Ausick]

  Big earnings movers: Campbell Soup Co. (NYSE: CPB) is down 3.2% at $43.30. Corinthian Colleges Inc. (NASDAQ: COCO) is down 10.3% at $2.34. JA Solar Holdings Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ: JASO) is down 6.9% at $7.40.

10 Best Solar Stocks To Buy For 2015: Peabody Energy Corporation(BTU)

Peabody Energy Corporation engages in the mining of coal. It mines, prepares, and sells thermal coal to electric utilities and metallurgical coal to industrial customers. The company owns interests in 30 coal mining operations located in the United States and Australia, as well as owns joint venture interest in a Venezuela mine. It is also involved in marketing, brokering, and trading coal. In addition, the company develops a mine-mouth coal-fueled generating plant; and Btu Conversion projects that are designed to convert coal to natural gas or transportation fuels; and clean coal technologies. As of December 31, 2011, it had 9 billion tons of proven and probable coal reserves. The company was founded in 1883 and is headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By David Dittman]

  Attorneys general from 14 states, led by Texas, challenged the EPA�� rule along with Southern Company (NYSE: SO), Entergy Corp (NYSE: ETR), Edison International (NYSE: EIX), Peabody Energy Corp (NYSE: BTU), American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP) and the United Mine Workers of America labor union.

• [By Aimee Duffy]

  The great majority of this country's coal production comes from Wyoming's Powder River Basin. The two leading producers there, Peabody Energy (NYSE: BTU  ) and Arch Coal (NYSE: ACI  ) , account for more than half the production in the entire basin, producing 139 million tons and 100 million tons, respectively, in 2012. But as coal demand in this country shrinks, Peabody and Arch have pinned their hopes on exports. Unfortunately, what these companies are finding is that exporting coal from ports on the Pacific coast is an increasingly contentious business.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Goldman Sachs analysts�Neil Mehta and Vinit Joshi�started Consol Energy at Neutral in a report dated yesterday, while stating their preference for Peabody Energy (BTU) SunCoke Energy (SXC). Mehta and Joshi explain why they remain on the sidelines:

10 Best Solar Stocks To Buy For 2015: Canadian Solar Inc.(CSIQ)

Canadian Solar Inc. engages in the design, development, manufacture, and sale of solar power products in Canada and internationally. The company offers solar cell and solar module products that convert sunlight into electricity for various uses. Its products include a range of standard solar modules for use in a range of residential, commercial, and industrial solar power generation systems. The company also designs and produces specialty solar modules and products consisting of customized modules that its customers incorporate into their products, such as solar-powered bus stop lighting; and specialty products, such as portable solar home systems and solar-powered car battery chargers. In addition, it sells solar system kits, a package consisting of solar modules produced by it and third party supplied components, such as inverters, racking system, and other accessories, as well as implements solar power development projects. The company sells its products under the Canad ian Solar brand name. Canadian Solar Inc. offers its standard solar modules through a direct sales force and sales agents primarily to distributors, system integrators, and original equipment manufacturer customers, as well as to solar projects; and specialty solar modules and products to the automotive, telecommunications, and light-emitting diode lighting sectors. The company was founded in 2001 and is based in Kitchener, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Travis Hoium]

  What: Shares of Canadian Solar (NASDAQ: CSIQ  ) jumped 10% today after the company announced a major supply agreement.

  So what: Canadian Solar will supply 91 MW of modules by the end of the year to Soleq Solar for a solar power plant in Thailand. This is a big development because the company is trying to reduce reliance on Europe and with growth in Japan last quarter and now Thailand in the remainder of 2013, the company is in a better position than many competitors. �

• [By Travis Hoium]

  Don't look now but SunPower (NASDAQ: SPWR  ) has become the best-performing stock in the solar industry. Over the past year, it's been better than fellow U.S.-based companies First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR  ) and SolarCity (NASDAQ: SCTY  ) , and far better than most Chinese manufacturers. Yingli Green Energy (NYSE: YGE  ) and Trina Solar lag well behind even after recent pops higher; only Canadian Solar (NASDAQ: CSIQ  ) can come close to SunPower's return (and I'll get into the reason for that below).

10 Best Solar Stocks To Buy For 2015: LDK Solar Co. Ltd.(LDK)

LDK Solar Co., Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, development, manufacture, and marketing of photovoltaic (PV) products; and development of power plant projects. It offers solar-grade and semiconductor-grade polysilicon; and multicrystalline and monocrystalline solar wafers to the manufacturers of solar cells and solar modules. The company also provides wafer processing services to monocrystalline and multicrystalline solar cell and module manufacturers; and sells silicon materials, such as ingots and polysilicon scraps. In addition, it engages in the production and sale of solar cells and modules to developers, distributors, and system integrators; and design and development of solar power projects in Europe, the United States, and China, as well as provides engineering, procurement, and construction services. LDK Solar Co., Ltd. operates in Europe, the Asia Pacific, and North America. The company was founded in 2005 and is based in Xinyu City, t he People?s Republic of China.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Smith]

  On April 15 -- Tax Day -- millions of Americans got bad news from their tax software programs, about money they'd have to pay the IRS. That same day, lenders to Chinese integrated solar power company LDK Solar (NYSE: LDK  ) got even worse news -- the company was running out of cash and would default on a scheduled debt payment, and they would need to reschedule their payments if they hoped to get anything back at all.

10 Best Solar Stocks To Buy For 2015: Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited(YGE)

Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, development, manufacture, marketing, sale, and installation of photovoltaic (PV) products in the People?s Republic of China and internationally. The company offers PV cells, PV modules, and integrated PV systems, as well as polysilicon ingots, blocks, and wafers. It sells its PV modules to distributors, wholesalers, power plant developers and operators, and PV system integrators in Germany, the United States, Italy, China, Spain, the Netherlands, Greece, the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom, South Korea, and Japan under the Yingli and Yingli Solar brand names. The company also offers its integrated PV systems directly to end-users or to contractors for use in the electricity projects, as well as to mobile communications companies in the People's Republic of China. Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Baoding, the People? s Republic of China.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Travis Hoium]

  The other earnings report was from Yingli Green Energy (NYSE: YGE  ) , which reported sales of $613.0 million but lost $128.2 million in the quarter. Yingli is seeing strong demand for panels, but it's not generating the margins needed to overcome $2.4 billion in debt. If Yingli can't improve its balance sheet enough to be able to invest in the next generation of equipment it risks failure, so look to see if margins improve enough to make a profit as we move through 2014.

• [By Gary Bourgeault]

  Hit the hardest will probably be Yingli Green Energy (YGE) and Trina Solar (TSL), two of the larger solar manufacturers in China.

  Trina Solar

10 Best Solar Stocks To Buy For 2015: First Solar Inc.(FSLR)

First Solar, Inc. manufactures and sells solar modules using a thin-film semiconductor technology. It also designs, constructs, and sells photovoltaic solar power systems. The company?s solar modules employ a thin layer of semiconductor material to convert sunlight into electricity. Its integrated solar power systems activities include the project development; engineering, procurement, and construction services; operating and maintenance services; and project finance. The company sells solar modules to project developers, system integrators, and operators of renewable energy projects; and solar power systems to investor owned utilities, independent power developers and producers, and commercial and industrial companies, as well as other system owners. It operates in the United States, Germany, France, Canada, and internationally. The company was formerly known as First Solar Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to First Solar, Inc. in 2006. First Solar was founded in 1999 a nd is headquartered in Tempe, Arizona.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  As you can see, since March 1, the iShares MSCI USA Momentum Factor ETF, which holds stocks like Facebook (FB) and Gilead Sciences (GILD), has dropped 3.9%, while the PowerShares S&P 500 High Beta ETF, which counts Nabors Industries (NBR) and First Solar (FSLR) among its largest positions, is down just a touch during the same period.

10 Best Solar Stocks To Buy For 2015: EMCORE Corporation(EMKR)

EMCORE Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides compound semiconductor-based products for the broadband, fiber optics, satellite, and solar power markets. The company operates in two segments, Fiber Optics and Photovoltaics. The Fiber Optics segment offers broadband products, including cable television, fiber-to-the-premises, satellite communication, video transport, and defense and homeland security products; and digital products comprising telecom optical, enterprise, laser/photodetector component, parallel optical transceiver and cable, and fiber channel transceiver products. This segment?s products enable information that is encoded on light signals to be transmitted, routed, and received in communication systems and networks. The Photovoltaics segment provides gallium arsenide (GaAs) multi-junction solar cells, covered interconnected cells, and solar panels for satellite applications; and concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) power systems for commercial and utility scale solar applications, as well as GaAs solar cells and integrated CPV components for use in other solar power concentrator systems. The company markets its products through its direct sales force, external sales representatives and distributors, and application engineers worldwide. EMCORE Corporation was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By CRWE]

  EMCORE Corporation (Nasdaq:EMKR), a leading provider of compound semiconductor-based components and subsystems for the fiber optic and solar power markets, reported that it is ramping production and shipping the Opticomm-EMCORE NEXTGEN OTP-1DVI2A1SU insert cards for the Optiva platform.

10 Best Solar Stocks To Buy For 2015: Hanwha SolarOne Co. Ltd.(HSOL)

Hanwha Solarone Co., Ltd., an investment holding company, engages in the manufacture and sale of silicon ingots, silicon wafers, and PV cells and modules. The company also offers mono crystalline and multi crystalline silicon cells; and provides PV module processing services. It sells its products to solar power system integrators and distributors primarily in Germany, Italy, Australia, the United States, the Czech Republic, Spain, and China. The company was formerly known as Solarfun Power Holdings Co., Ltd. and changed its name to Hanwha SolarOne Co., Ltd. in December 2010. Hanwha Solarone Co., Ltd. was founded in 2004 and is based in Qidong, the People?s Republic of China.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rebecca McClay]

  The tech market's news today includes a plunge in Hanwha SolarOne Co. Ltd. (Nasdaq: HSOL) shares, which are down 5% in morning trade after its second-quarter loss narrowed to $0.32 per share from a loss of $0.43 in Q1.

• [By Travis Hoium]

  What: Solar stocks are shooting higher again today as the strong run in 2013 continues. LDK Solar (NYSE: LDK  ) , Canadian Solar (NASDAQ: CSIQ  ) , Yingli Green Energy (NYSE: YGE  ) , Hanwha SolarOne (NASDAQ: HSOL  ) , and JinkoSolar (NYSE: JKS  ) led the way, gaining between 10% and 22% today.

• [By Paul Ausick]

  Stocks on the move: Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) is up 31.5% at $5.13 on the announcement that Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) will acquire the Finnish firm�� mobile phone business for $7.2 billion. Chinese solar energy stocks are getting a boost again today, with Hanwha SolarOne Co. (NASDAQ: HSOL) up more than 15.9% and ReneSola Ltd. (NYSE: SOL) up 14.9%.

• [By Roberto Pedone]

  One under-$10 stock that's starting to move within range of triggering a big breakout trade is Hanwha SolarOne (HSOL), which manufactures a number of silicon ingots, PV cells and PV modules using advanced manufacturing process technologies. This stock has been on fire so far in 2013, with shares up 301%.

  If you take a look at the chart for Hanwha SolarOne, you'll notice that this stock has been uptrending strong for the last month and change, with shares moving higher from its low of $2.60 to its recent high of $4.28 a share. During that uptrend, shares of HSOL have been making mostly higher lows and higher highs, which is bullish technical price action. That move has now pushed shares of HSOL within range of triggering a big breakout trade.

  Traders should now look for long-biased trades in HSOL if it manages to break out above its 52-week high at $4.28 a share with high volume. Look for a sustained move or close above that level with volume that hits near or above its three-month average action of 1.61 million shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then HSOL will set up to enter new 52-week-high territory, which is bullish technical price action. Some possible upside targets off that breakout are its next major overhead resistance levels at $6 to $7 a share.

  Traders can look to buy HSOL off any weakness to anticipate that breakout and simply use a stop that sits right below its 50-day moving average at $3.40 a share, or near more support at $3.35 a share. One can also buy HSOL off strength once it clears $4.28 a share with volume and then simply use a stop that sits a comfortable percentage from your entry point.