WFR

[la-onda]

MEMC Electronic Materials "overweight," target price raised - update

Tuesday, December 18, 2007 12:17:11 PM ET
Lehman Brothers

NEW YORK, December 18 (newratings.com) - Analyst Tim Luke of Lehman Brothers maintains his "overweight" rating on MEMC Electronic Materials (WFR.NYS). The target price has been raised from $90 to $110.

In a research note published this morning, the analyst mentions that poly supply shortage is likely to continue until end-2009. MEMC Electronic Materials has a backlog of $18 billion and is expected to announce additional poly contracts, which are likely to act as a catalyst for the company's share price in the near term, Lehman Brothers says. The upward revision in the target price reflects robust demand from solar/ingot manufacturers and indications that poly prices might rise significantly during 1H08, the analyst adds.

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Buy MEMC Electronics
Saturday , December 15, 2007 07:32ET

Ken Nagy, CFA

Dec 15, 2007 (Zacks Investment Research via COMTEX) -- Initiating coverage on integrated circuits producer MEMC Electronics Materials (WFR) is Zacks senior semiconductor industry analyst Ken Nagy, CFA.nbsp; Here are some of the reasons behind his decision: 'MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc. produces the raw material wafers used by semiconductor manufacturers in the production of integrated circuits (ICs). The decision to supply wafers to the solar industry is paying huge rewards as demand for polysilicon has raced ahead of supply. 'The Solar business and the 300mm business are both high-margin products, and the firm is projecting a 250 basis point (bps) increase over the next quarter. The September top-line and gross margin percentage missed consensus estimates as a result of a production delay in the Pasadena facility. 'We are initiating a Buy rating on the shares of WFR. The company presently trades at a multiple of 19.9x our estimate of 2008 earnings (P/E) (pro-forma adjusted for stock option comp).We expect the firm to outgrow the general semiconductor industry based on its 300 millimeter product line and its solar business. We value the company based on the average of our P/E multiple (26.0x 2008 estimated EPS) and our two stage intrinsic model. The semiconductor group average P/E is between 25x-26x. We feel WFR should trade at a premium to its peers, given the fact that the company has high growth/ high margin products.

[la-onda]

Solar Names Continue to Shine
Wednesday, January 02, 2008 08:17ET

Shares of Akeena Solar (AKNS), Hoku Scientific (HOKU) and LDK Solar are notably higher on company specific news.  First Solar (FSLR) is also advancing after Calyon revised its FSLR price target to $345 from $270. Thomas Weisel upped its price target for MEMC Elec Materials (WFR) to $105 from $81.

+++ AKNS/STP: Akeena Solar announced that its state-of-the-art solar panel technology, Andalay, will be distributed in Europe, Japan and Australia under a license agreement with Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd.

++ HOKU: Hoku Scientific received a 6 week extension from SANYO Electric Co., Ltd., to complete the financing for its planned polysilicon plant.

+ LDK: LDK Solar guided to 2008 revenue of $960 million to $1 billion, BELOW the current $1.08 billion consensus view. Shares are higher. Over the past two quarters, LDK topped consensus sales estimates by 11% (Q2) and 9% (Q3).

+ FSLR: Calyon upped its price target for Buy-rated First Solar to $345 from $270.

+ WFR: T. Weisel called MEMC Elec a Top Idea for 2008.

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MEMC Electronic Materials "buy," target price raised

Thursday, December 20, 2007 12:07:32 PM ET
UBS

NEW YORK, December 20 (newratings.com) - Analysts at UBS maintain their "buy" rating on MEMC Electronic Materials (WFR.NYS). The target price has been raised from $85 to $105.
In a research note published this morning, the analysts mention that recent channel checks indicate that the price of the company's 300mm wafer is declining in North America and Asia. Recent checks also indicate that MEMC Electronic Materials' largest customer, TSMC, has centralized the purchase of its semiconductor wafers, resulting in a further decline in prices, the analysts say. The company's decision to temporarily close some of its 200mm semiconductor plants, in order to improve its focus on the solar business, is positive, UBS adds.

[la-onda]

 Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: MEMC Electronic Materials...
Tuesday , January 08, 2008 06:00ET

CHICAGO, Jan 08, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: MEMC Electronic Materials (NYSE: WFR)....

See the latest posts to the Analyst Blog by visiting: http://at.zacks.com/?id=2673

Here are highlights from Monday's Analyst Blog:

Upgrades in Zacks Rank

WFR Gets Hot

Semiconductor and solar panel producer MEMC Electronic Materials (NYSE: WFR) has been upgraded from a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) to a #1 (Strong Buy). The reasons for this look to be two-fold: as semiconductor firms work off their inventory glut and new technologies continue to be in demand, 2008 looks like a better year for semis than 2007. Also, with solar energy's outlook growing more and more positive, MEMC should see growth in its solar panel line, as well.

However, there has been a pullback in WFR's share price of roughly 3.5% in morning trading. MEMC Electronic Materials is a leading global producer of polysilicon and silicon wafers. The silicon wafer is the fundamental building block of semiconductors, which, in turn, are found in every type of microelectronics application, including computer systems, telecommunications equipment, automobiles, consumer electronics products, industrial automation and control systems.

Ugly chart:

[magu]

 link to an article that talks about PV industry.

http://www.seekingalpha.com/article/58786-pv-industry-in-oversupply-in-2008