On a day when the market declines in the triple digits due to fears that the economic recovery may be waning, it's going to take a lot to end that session with a respectable gain in share price.

Well, Trina Solar Ltd. ( TSL - Snapshot Report ) had what it took on Tuesday with a very solid second-quarter performance that included an enhancement in its annual shipment target.

The result was a gain of 5.76% with volume that surged to more than 7.7 million shares, compared to the daily average of nearly 2.8 million. This came on a day with the Dow was off 133.96 points, or -1.32%, and the S&P 500 declined 15.49 points, or 1.45%.

Needless to say, TSL was one of the top-performing Zacks #1 Rank companies today.

Trina Solar is a manufacturer of high quality modules and has a long history as a solar PV pioneer since it was founded in 1997 as a system installation company. The company is one of the few PV manufacturers that has developed a vertically-integrated business model from the production of monocrystalline and multicrystalline ingots, wafers and cells to the assembly of high quality modules.

TSL is part of the Solar industry, which has become a very well represented space on the Zacks #1 Rank List. Including TSL, there are 7 total companies from this space on the list. The other 6 names are China Sunergy Co. Ltd. ( CSUN ) , Jinko Solar Co. Ltd. ( JKS - Snapshot Report ) , LDK Solar Co. Ltd. ( LDK - Snapshot Report ) , Real Goods Solar, Inc. ( RSOL - Snapshot Report ) , ReneSola Ltd. ( SOL - Analyst Report ) and Solarfun Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (SOLF).

Solid Second Quarter

Today, Trina Solar announced earnings per ADS of 52 cents, compared to the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 49 cents. The result also topped the year-ago performance of 35 cents. TSL has now surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for 7 straight quarters.

Revenues soared 147.2% year over year to $370.8 million. It was also up 10.1% sequentially.

The company announced solar module shipments of approximately 223 MW, which was above its guidance of 200 MW to 205 MW. It was also nearly 250% better than last year and more than 15% higher sequentially.

However, as has been said here before, a company is only as good as its guidance. Trina Solar provided a little hope there as well. The company now expects total PV module shipments of between 900 MW and 930 MW for 2010, compared to its previous outlook of 750 MW to 800 MW. That would mark an increase of between 126% and 133% from 2009.

Earnings Estimates for Trina Solar

Even before today's announcement, earnings estimates for Trina Solar had been moving steadily higher.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for this year is $2.23 per share, which is up nearly 5% in just the past 7 days as 3 of 19 estimates were revised higher. The outlook is also up more than 6% in 30 days and more than 8% in 2 months.

As for 2011, the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.54 per share is nearly 14% better than 2010, underscoring the immense potential for solar energy in the future. The past week has seen 3 of 16 total estimates move higher, pulling the Zacks Consensus Estimate higher by about 6.3%. Furthermore, expectations are up 8% in a month and 17% in 60 days.