SolarCity's Stock Surges After RW Baird Upgrade

Shares of SolarCity Corp. surged 3.2% in premarket trade Thursday, after the solar power company was upgraded at RW Baird, on the belief that regulatory worries are overdone. Analyst Ben Kallo, who raised his rating to outperform from neutral, said he also believes the recent multiple financing deals SolarCity announced suggests should alleviate any concerns over the company's balance sheet and access to liquidity. Kallo suggests investors may have overreacted to concerns over regulatory issues, such as NV Energy's recent decision to cut net metering benefits, because support for solar in most net-metering cases. "We believe negative sentiment is overdone on one of the leading U.S. rooftop installer, and think shares are attractive at current levels," Kallo wrote in a note to clients. The stock has plunged 55% year to date through Wednesday, while SPDR Utilities Select Sector ETF has run up 16% and the S&P 500 had gained 3.7%.