Monday, November 23, 2009

LDK Solar Earns $29.4M in 3Q

By Matt Egan

FOXBusiness

Shares of LDK Solar (LDK) soared more than 10% Monday morning after the Chinese solar wafer maker surprised Wall Street by reporting a third-quarter profit and an upbeat forecast.

LDK said it earned $29.4 million, or 27 cents a share, in the third quarter, compared to a profit of $88.4 million, or 77 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. The company’s sales fell from $541.8 million last year to $281.9 million.

The results blew away the Street’s expectations as analysts had forecasted a loss of 10 cents a share on revenue of $277.2 million.

At the same time, LDK forecasted revenue of $280 million to $310 million for the current quarter and projected wafer shipments of between 320 megawatts and 340 megawatts. Analysts had been expecting revenue of just $258.7 million for the current quarter.

The news was received well by Wall Street as LDK’s stock surged to $9.29 after closing at $8 on Friday. The Chinese company’s shares were down almost 40% on the year as of Friday.

"We were pleased to see wafer demand strengthen across multiple geographies during the quarter, rebounding from the lower levels seen earlier this year,” CEO Xiaofeng Peng said in a statement. “Our financial results for the third quarter reflect the recent improvement in the operating environment for the solar industry.”

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