Tag - WWAT

EMCORE Corporation (Nasdaq:EMKR) shares tanked more than 20% on Tuesday after Monday’s late news that the Albuquerque-based company will sell 2 million shares of its WorldWater & Solar Technologies Corp. (OTC:WWAT) preferred stock. The sale will have two closings, the first of which took place on June 27; the second will be on July 31. The semiconductor-based components and subsystems provider said it expects about $13.1 million in total proceeds from the sale. Also on Monday, an analyst at Canaccord Adams downgraded EMCORE to “hold” from “buy” and cut the price target to $7 from $9.

On Tuesday, EMCORE shares fell to $5, down about $1.26 or 20.1% from Monday’s close. The shares hit a 52-week low.

Although solar power is a developing area with commensurate risk, triple-digit oil prices (as well as increased attention by politicians and the media) have helped move alternative energy to the forefront of investor attention.

Today, we examine a pair of small-cap firms that are involved in developing solar technologies. (For those seeking more conservative, larger-cap plays on the sector, I’ve compiled a 35-page report on alternative energy, available for free to all SmallCapInvestor.com readers.)

First up, The Real Nanotech Investor editor Gregg Early chooses Spire Corporation (Nasdaq:SPIR), which specializes equipment in the production of terrestrial photovoltaic modules from solar cells, as his favorite pick.

Despite its small market cap of $114 million, it is a well-diversified firm with additional operations in biomedical and biophotonic research as well as semiconductor and opto-electronic technologies.

Early says that Spire has received a purchase order for its solar cell modules from U.S. Dept of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

"Spire continues to credentialize its solar division and expand operations," he says. Indeed, after building its first solar panel production in Portugal, Early says that in recent weeks the firm also announced an order for a turnkey solar panel production line from its Spanish client Fluitecnik SA. The firm also announced a . . .

Neil George is well known as the senior editor of Personal Finance, one of the longest-running and most reputable newsletters in the advisor industry. In addition, he publishes a specialized service — Inner Circle — for sophisticated traders willing to buy lesser-known stocks that offer a combination of higher risk, but also higher potential rewards.

One sector he currently favors in Inner Circle is solar power, and here he looks at a pair of small-cap solar stocks that are currently on his “buy” list.

George says that AeroVironment, Inc. (Nasdaq: AVAV), with a market cap of $511 million, has been on the vanguard of wind, solar and electric conversion equipment for over three decades.

"Thirty years ago this year the company's Gossamer Condor became the first vehicle to achieve successful human-powered flight,” he says. “The company built the GM-backed winner of the first solar land race, the Sunnyracer. It set the world record for manned solar-powered flight in 1981.”

George says the company has been expanding our understanding of alternative technologies for a long time.

“After all these years it looks like it's now focusing on making some money — as opposed to headlines — as a visionary company,” he says. “Its product lines now have to do with micro unmanned aerial vehicles for combat forces in remote locations, its PosiCharge power system and its power management division."

Although he says that AeroVironment doesn't build solar cells, George points out that the company is a leading force in managing the electricity derived from wind and solar sources.