ITRI - SunPower soars following Raymond James upgrade to Strong Buy

2023-07-12 11:18:27 ET

SunPower ( NASDAQ: SPWR ) +9.4% in Wednesday's trading after Raymond James raised its recommendation to Strong Buy from Outperform with a $21 price target, after the stock's excessive weakness due to the company's overweight to the California market has provided a buying opportunity for investors.

While California's NEM 3.0 net-metering policy is a negative, it does not alter "the underlying reality of ever-rising penetration," Raymond James analyst Pavel Molchanov said, noting 4% of single-family homes in the U.S. have rooftop solar, compared to ~15% in Germany and 25% in Australia.

"All of these numbers will increase over time, but the U.S. certainly has room to catch up with what's been happening overseas," Molchanov wrote.

Raymond James also downgraded Chart Industries ( GTLS ) and Itron ( ITRI ) to Outperform from Strong Buy.

More on SunPower:

• Financial and valuation comparison to sector peers
• Analysis: SunPower: Might Not See A Better Entry Point
• Stock price return: Down 44.5% YTD, down 42% in the past 12 months

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