Diamonds and Dogs

5/10/18

Sun shining brightly on First Solar (FSLR). First Solar is having a good couple of days up 5% today on an upgrade from J.P. Morgan. The analyst turned bullish on the solar panel maker, citing valuation and "excellent" revenue and earnings visibility with a price target of $85 a share. California gave a boost to the solar stocks the other day becoming the first in the U.S. to require solar panels on almost all new homes and most new units built after Jan. 1, 2020. It's going to get a lot more expensive to build in California.

Macy's (M) lower on a downgrade. The department store chain was downgraded by Morgan Stanley ahead of its earnings report next week. The analyst says Macy's continues to undergo core operating challenges, similar to peers in the department store space and despite closing stores proactively, store-only comps remain negative and forecasted them to remain so in the future. The analyst also said the company could face an "uphill battle" after the first quarter, though she gave the company credit for expense cuts, real estate monetization, and new retail initiatives. Good news the CEO was buying stock last month.