GT Solar Slides 23% on Weak Outlook

Shares of GT Solar International Inc. (SOLR) plunged more than 23% after issuing a weak outlook and missing fourth-quarter expectations.

The maker of photovoltaic (PV) equipment said it anticipates full-year earnings of 45 cents to 60 cents per share. The guidance is lower than the consensus estimate of 79 cents per share, which is derived from 9 covering analysts.

GT Solar also expects revenues of $450 million to $550 million in the current fiscal year.

"We saw slower spending by customers in our PV equipment business in the second half of our fiscal year, a trend that is continuing in fiscal 2010," said CEO Tom Zarrella.

Meanwhile, GT Solar's fourth-quarter earnings came in at 8 cents per share, which missed the consensus estimate by more than 55%.

SOLR, a Zacks #4 Rank ("Sell") stock, is trading on extraordinarily high volume of approximately 4.5 million, compared to average daily volume of about 1.5 million.

Read the full analyst report on SOLR