SunPower Lighting the Candle of Hope

SunPower Corporation (SPWRA) showed signs of revival in the second quarter results. Sales of $298 million beat sequential number by about 39% and crossed the consensus expectation by $34 million. 

EPS of $0.24 during the quarter almost doubled the Street apprehension of $0.14. SunPower also improved the upper end of its revenue outlook for 2009 to $1.35 billion – $1.7 billion from $1.3 billion – $1.7 billion. We expect the company to cross the $1.3 billion mark with EPS of $0.68 in fiscal 2009. 

Revenues got a 75% lift sequentially in the Components segment along with stable Systems segment. The Components segment got a strong headwind from the Residential and Light Commercial customer segments, especially from North America and Germany. 

SunPower more than doubled its cash hoard through the issue of equity and convertible debt in May 2009. Sequential cash balance rose to nearly $456.8 million from $202.3 million. 

The results may well be an indication of what’s coming next Thursday, when the big names in the solar space, Evergreen Solar Inc. (ESLR), Hoku Scientific, Inc. (HOKU), and First Solar, Inc. (FSLR), declare their numbers. 

SunPower has lost more than a third of its shine since the inception of the fiscal. At present, the company is trading at a discount to its comparable peers in terms of price-to-book, price-to-sales, and price-to-CF multiples. However, taking into account SunPower's leadership in cell conversion efficiency and rapidly falling panel manufacturing cost, we believe a premium valuation is justified. Thus we maintain our BUY rating on SPWRA.

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