Low European Exposure Boosts JA Solar (JASO) in Q1 - Analyst

Roth Capital maintains its Buy rating and $18 target price on JA Solar (Nasdaq: JASO) following preannounced Q1 results issued Monday morning.

Analyst Philip Shen noted that the results were largely positive given its low exposure to Europe. In 2013, EU comprised ~23% of JASO’s shipments vs. just ~8% in Q4’13. We note that SOL likely has the highest exposure to EU (45% in 2013 vs. TSL of 37% and YGE of 32%). However, JASO’s exposure to Japan is relatively higher vs. peers (~37% of shipments in 2013 vs. peers of <25%), and we continue to see strength in Japan (recall management guided to a 2014 shipment mix of ~30% on its Q4’13 call). We believe Japan’s March 31 fiscal year end generated strong volumes in Q1, which likely contributed to JASO’s Q1 upside guidance, the analyst said.

Shipments also come in on the upside, versus lower results from YGE/TSL. The analyst said, In Q1, management expects to ship >620MW of total solar products (we forecast 622MW) vs. prior guidance of 580-610MW and prior ROTHe of 590MW. Moreover, similar to TSL and YGE, JASO expects Q1 GMs to improve sequentially (we forecast 15.6% vs. prior ROTHe of 14.9%).

For an analyst ratings summary and ratings history on JA Solar Holdings Co., Ltd. click here. For more ratings news on JA Solar Holdings Co., Ltd. click here.

Shares of JA Solar Holdings Co., Ltd. closed at $9.32 yesterday.

You May Also Be Interested In

• Gilead Sciences (GILD) Misses Q1 EPS by 288c
• Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Upgrades Trustmark (TRMK) to Outperform
• Edwards Lifesciences (EW) Tops Q1 EPS by 2c; offers guidance