ASTI

[pinoleropuro]

looks like gettint in ASTI at 10.07 the pivot point could be very lucrative in the short term.
any thoughts?

I saw the after market action yesterday so I canceled my order to sell and now I am up over 47% my best trade within the past year!!!!!!!!!
now I just have a trailing stop order and I am good 
hope you guys got in. 
good sign that this year is going to be a much better year than last.

[Houlahan]

congrats pinoleropuro!

[David Randolph]

Investors loved to know that Hydro continues to back ASTI. The stock is up 106% from the low point set just 7 trading days ago.

ASTI has been a good stock for short term trading, but I'm determined to own it for the long term, as I see the potential for many bags of profit if everything goes as planned.

It impresses me how FSLR, the solar industry leader, has been holding up so well:



This is good to know because it means investors continue to value thin film producers very high. One of the fears I have in ASTI is that they take so long to make the product that when it comes valuations in the sector are down sharply from where they stand now ... but so far FSLR shows that things are holding up reasonably well, as this $18.2 B company is valued at 46 times 2009 EPS estimates.

Perhaps ASTI is losing momentum and it will fall over the short term, as volume was lower yesterday and the candlestick pattern is an advance block. So if I were just trading ASTI I would probably take profits here. But I'm a long term investor in the stock, so I'll ignore technical factors, while I focus on the fundamentals and future prospects for the company. 

[terainvestment]

Thanks! 

Ascent Solar and ICP Solar sign cooperative development agreement

Link: http://finance.yahoo.com/mp#asti

Do you think is a good news for ASTI?
it seems that ICP Solar is a minor player in solar energy.
Probably this news is better for ICP shareholders.

[la-onda]

Bad news for ASTI:

Ascent Solar Announces Filing of Registration Statement
Business Wire(Fri, Mar 14)

I thought they had all the money they needed to fund their production plans. It appears costs will be higher than previously thought.

On March 14, 2007, before the open, Norsk Hydro filed an SC 13 form with the SEC clarifying that it can increase its stake in Hydro to 35% through multiple transactions.

So probably Norsk Hydro will buy a few of those $80 M. I'm just unsure of who will buy the remaining capital to be issued, since the manager for the offering is precisely Bear Stearns.

any suggestion what would be the price for this offering?
Has Norsk Hydro taken part of this shares or is this additionally dilution?

cheer
Oliver

[David Randolph]

Several things happened since my last update for ASTI.

any suggestion what would be the price for this offering?

The price wasn't disclosed, I guess this means it is subject to negotiation. ASTI just said they want $80 M.

Has Norsk Hydro taken part of this shares or is this additionally dilution?

Let's look at it this way. Because Hydro increased its stake from 23% to 35%, paying $28.4 M, I guess ASTI will now demand just $50 M or so from this private placement. So it's like Hydro participated in the private placement, even though formally it didn't.

There's no additional dilution in my view, one financing substitutes the other.

Ascent Solar and ICP Solar sign cooperative development agreement

Link: http://finance.yahoo.com/mp#asti

Do you think is a good news for ASTI?
it seems that ICP Solar is a minor player in solar energy.
Probably this news is better for ICP shareholders.

Well, it's good news in the sense that ASTI is preparing things to start selling its products in the market place. ICPR.OB is small in market cap terms ($13 M), but it sold $6.9 M over the last four quarters, not bad.

Now, I believe the following news is quite relevant:

• Ascent Solar Achieves Key Manufacturing Milestone
Business Wire (Mon, Mar 31)

You see, there were basically two risks in ASTI as a long term investment:

A - They won't have the necessary capital to do it

Hydro's recent $28.4 M infusion tells us they're still supporting ASTI and it eases this concern.

B - Yeah, the idea is awesome, but they won't be able to produce it in large scale, there are several technological hurdles.

The fact that the 1.5 MW pilot production facility is working better than expected eases this concern.

So what we have here is a door open to a belief, the belief in ASTI's long term investment story, which is extremely attractive.

In technical terms, ASTI is closer to its highs than most solar stocks (well, except for FSLR, the market leader) ... I have renewed confidence in ASTI.

[poli]

Read that the senate just passed the tax extension for solar.  Might bode well for a longer more sustained rally or maybe the latest run over the last couple of weeks was in anticipation of this.  Time will tell.  I am still in and expecting a lot more.

poli

[David Randolph]

Read that the senate just passed the tax extension for solar.  Might bode well for a longer more sustained rally or maybe the latest run over the last couple of weeks was in anticipation of this.  Time will tell.  I am still in and expecting a lot more.

poli

Thanks for the information poli

We'll have to be very patient with ASTI, but with StatoilHydro backing the company, I'm confident that everything will go as planned. And if that happens ASTI will be at least a 10 bagger, in my view.

But it will take maybe until 2010 for this to happen. You know, the stock may trade between $10 and $20 for a couple of years and then skyrocket 10 fold in a single year. Nobody knows when it will start, but I'll also remain a long term shareholder in ASTI.

[la-onda]

Ascent Solar Tapping European Market
Thursday April 10, 8:21 am ET
Ascent to Develop Solar Products With Spanish Roofer for European Market

LITTLETON, Colo. (AP) -- Ascent Solar Technologies Inc. said Thursday it will develop solar panels with Giscosa Sociedad Ltd., which will distribute them in Europe, in an effort to tap into the world's largest solar market.

Giscosa, a Spanish roofing company, will incorporate Ascent's thin-film solar panels into its rubber roofing products. Thin-film panels are lightweight, flexible and can be fused with other building materials.

Once the companies develop the products, they plan to test them and assess market demand. Ascent did not disclose financial terms of the agreement.

Europe has some of the top solar markets, including Germany and Spain, where demand has surged due to government incentives to install solar panels.

[la-onda]

fyi:
Ascent Solar Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: ASTI) a development stage company, engages in the commercialization of certain photovoltaic (PV) technology developed by ITN Energy Systems, Inc. for space satellite, near-space, and terrestrial markets. Its PV modules use a thin film copper-indium-gallium-diselenide semiconductor material on a flexible plastic substrate. The company was founded in 2005 and is based in Littleton, Colorado. With 11.68 million shares outstanding and 1.97 million shares declared short as of March 2008, the failure to deliver in shares of ASTI has not been resolved and a buy-in is imminent. According to quarterly data provided by the SEC, there were still 272,928 shares of ASTI that were failing-to-deliver as of September 28, 2007.

[David Randolph]

Thanks for posting the news on ASTI la-onda

There was another press release out today:

• Ascent Solar and Icopal SAS Sign Cooperation Agreement
Business Wire (Tue 6:00am)

It's good news, but the issue is if the company can produce thin film and flexible solar panels in a large, commercial scale. If the company achieves its productions milestones I don't think demand will be an issue.

Anyway, it's good news that ASTI is preparing the market and making partnerships to allocate its future production.

[la-onda]

ASTI: Jumps +1.58%; Vol +67%; Last 90 Min of Trading
Wednesday, April 16, 2008 16:21ET

During the last 90 minutes of today's session, shares of Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc. (NasdaqNM: ASTI) demonstrated a strong UPWARD close relative to its 13:30 ET statistics. "Strong Closers" are determined by proprietary Knobias calculations performed during the last segment of each trading day.

sym: ASTI      @13:30 ET        @CLOSE      % CHANGE
----------   -----------   -----------  ------------
PRICE             $15.15        $15.39        +1.58%
VOLUME           163,862       272,996       +66.60%
#TRADES              680         1,086       +59.71%
DAY-HI            $15.35        $15.50       LATE-HI
DAY-LO            $14.87        $14.87           N/A

bullish chart:

[David Randolph]

Press release out for ASTI:

Ascent Solar Adds JPMorgan to Underwriting Team
Business Wire (Tue 6:00am)

Management said they needed $80 M, Norsk Hydro gave them $28.4 M as it increased its stake in the company to 35%, so they're still looking for at least $50 M.

I guess that dilution isn't all that important in ASTI's case, but getting the job done, I mean, successfully pass through all phases towards high volume commercial production. Ok, with this kind of dilution, if management is successful in its long term plans, instead of 30 bags we'll get just 15 bags of profit.

But the important thing is achieving high volume commercial production, whatever it costs.

With JP Morgan's help, Hydro's backing and solar stocks showing some strength again, I guess there won't be much of a problem finding these $50 M - $80 M for ASTI.

[422fwhp]

Moving this a.m.

LITTLETON, Colo., Apr 22, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc. (ASTI) today announced that it has added J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. as a lead underwriter of its public offering of common stock pursuant to the registration statement on Form S-3 filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the "Commission") on March 14, 2008. J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. joins Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. as managing lead underwriters. Cowen and Company, LLC, Jefferies & Company, Inc. and Merriman Curhan Ford & Co. continue to serve as co-managers of the offering.

About Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc.

Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc. (the "Company") is a developer of thin-film photovoltaic modules and is located in Littleton, Colorado.

SOURCE: THE IBD

[soxguy]

Food for thought.    *

Wall Street's Buy List
By Rich Smith April 22, 2008

2 Recommendations

Actions speak louder than words, as the old saying goes. So why does the media focus so much attention on what Wall Street says about companies, instead of what it does with them?

Luckily for Wall Street watchers, the Internet brings us MSN Money's list of which companies the institutions are buying. True, we should be as skeptical of Wall Street's actions as we are of its words. But when the 97,000-plus lay and professional investors on Motley Fool CAPS agree with Wall Street's opinions, it just might be time for some buying.

Here's the latest edition of Wall Street's Buy List, alongside our investors' opinions of the companies involved:

Stock
   

Recently Fetching
   

CAPS Rating
(5 max):

Ascent Solar (Nasdaq: ASTI)
   

$15.07
   

***

Solarfun (Nasdaq: SOLF)
   

$14.71
   

***

First Solar (Nasdaq: FSLR)
   

$285.79
   

**

Trina Solar (NYSE: TSL)
   

$41.41
   

**

Canadian Solar (Nasdaq: CSIQ)
   

$26.08
   

**
Companies are selected from the "Institutional Ownership Up Last Month" list published on MSN Money on the Saturday following close of trading last week. Recent pricing also provided by MSN Money on the same date. CAPS ratings from Motley Fool CAPS.

Burnt by the sun
It seems that Wall Street is hot for the sun once again. But what is it about our favorite gaseous orb, exactly, that caught Wall Street's interest this week? Are they buying up shares of suntan lotion manufacturers, perhaps? Developers of beachside real estate? Nope -- on closer inspection, all five of the Wall Street faves named above have solar power in common.

Unfortunately, they've got another thing in common, too: Main Street investors aren't interested in them. Not one of the stocks named above gets an above-average rating from CAPS players. Looks like the best we can do today is choose between a pair of mediocre-rated stocks: Ascent Solar and Solarfun. Which to pick? I'm going to follow my native curiosity and look at the one that's "new to me." While I've a passing acquaintance with Solarfun, I have to admit that I know Ascent by name only.

Care to join me as I learn more about the company from our panel of CAPS experts? Then come along and let's review ...

The bull case for Ascent Solar
We begin with an introduction to the company, courtesy of shawnehamilton last in September:

    Ascent Solar ... is poised to become the leader in thin-film, monolithically integrated ... CIGS photovoltaics on flexible substrates. CIGS is an acronym for copper, indium, gallium, and selenium (diselenide), the key substances used in this technology ... The materials result in a product that is cheaper, lighter, and easier to use than traditional solar panels ... The US Air Force has already contracted with Ascent Solar and obviously has 'long-range' plans for this technology ... In the US military, Ascent has secured a serious, 'deep pockets' client.

Sound good so far? Well, tread warily, Fool. As CAPS player ennui cautioned in December:

    [Ascent] is a developmental stage company -- no commercial products, no profits. Not unlike a biotech company, with worlds of promise, but no drug on the market. If their technology hits it big, this stock will go into orbit. If it fails -- well, it fails.

And yet, CAPS All-Star MarkusV argued in November that "this apparently overvalued company is run by some of the best guys in the business, has a very innovative product and is coupled with the giant Norsk Hydro, thus guaranteeing it future sales by integrating its PV sheets in buildings."

MarkusV's comments that Ascent looks overvalued have some validity. The company carries a market cap of $178 million despite bringing in just $1 million in revenues last year. Meanwhile, Ascent is burning cash, and has no profits whatsoever.

But Ascent does have a dream. As I see it, the key to its prospects appears twofold. First, by investing in "thin-film" photovoltaics, Ascent hopes its products will be more versatile than the solar panels currently being manufactured by most of the major players in this field. Second, by using CIGS to convert sunlight to electricity, Ascent aims to free itself from the supply constraints of firms like Suntech Power (NYSE: STP), for example, which need to buy polysilicon from suppliers like Hoku Scientific (Nasdaq: HOKU) in order to build their panels.

Time to chime in
Whether that dream is worth paying 178 times sales, though, is not for me to judge. On CAPS, that's where you come in. Click in and tell us what you think