Our Research


March 7, 2024

While the Street’s 2024E Adj.-EPS Estimate for Jinko Solar has “Collapsed” from $9.76/shr Three Months Ago to $5.98/shr Currently, is it Enough?

By Gordon L. Johnson II

So… is Jinko Solar Still a Good Short, or Has that Train Left the Station? In the analysis that follows, we update our views on global solar wafer/cell/module bellwether Jinko Solar, to include: (a) our…

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March 4, 2024

GLJ Solar Weekly – Does our Recent Fire Side Chat w/ the Largest Distributors of Solar Products in N. America & Our One-on-One Conversation w/ a Large On-the-Ground Chinese Solar Investor Suggest “Light at the End of the Tunnel” for Solar Bulls?

By Gordon L. Johnson II

Price Tracker. Applying a modified approach, we detail PV pricing data by substrate (Ex. 1-2), segmented by Chinese and global prices, tracked each Wednesday by EnergyTrend, PVInsights, and PVInfolink, respectively. Last week, price changes in China…

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February 29, 2024

If We Told You Sunrun’s Recent Convertible Bond Cost ~15.4% (or 8.14% for the Debt Portion Alone), Funds Which it is Investing into “Assets” that Generate ~3.7% Returns… Would that Make it More Compelling as a Short?

By Gordon L. Johnson II

The Cost of Sunrun’s Recent $475mn Convertible Bond Issue May Surprise You (link). As a reminder to those who don’t have a doctorate in “bond math”, when an investor buys a convertible bond they are…

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February 20, 2024

GLJ Macro Weekly: Is the Fed “Sleepwalking” us into a 10x Worse Recession in 2024 by Using the Wrong Neutral Rate & Ignoring UST Yields (which the bond market takes its cues from) in Favor of its Fed Funds Rate (which few use to price debt – i.e., banks pay 5bps for deposits)?

By Gordon L. Johnson II

Is the Fed Using the Wrong Neutral Rate, Suggesting they are Sleepwalking the US Economy into a Much “Nastier” Recession than if they Weren’t Constantly Pushing Imminent Rate Cuts as a Certainty? Based on the…

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February 8, 2024

GLJ Solar Weekly – Dec. California Solar Initiative (“CSI”) Data Dump (i.e., Inverter, Storage, Installer, Battery, & Module Market Share Thru Nov.) Shows Weak US Solar Demand May be Structural; & Update on German/U.K. Solar Installations

By Gordon L. Johnson II

Price Tracker. Applying a modified approach, we detail PV pricing data by substrate (Ex. 1-15), segmented by Chinese and global prices, tracked each Wednesday by EnergyTrend, PVInsights, and PVInfolink, respectively. This week, price changes in China…

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February 7, 2024

Despite Strength in Solar Stocks Today, Do Enphase’s 4Q23 Results & 1Q24E Guidance Actually Foretell a Coming “Nuclear Winter” for Solar Stocks (i.e., are they still grossly overvalued)?

By Gordon L. Johnson II

Solar Stocks are Roaring Higher Today, Despite Enphase’s 4Q24 Revs. Missing a Q4 Street Est. that Had Been Cut -51.9% Over the Past 6 Months (yes, you heard that right); Does this Make (Any) Sense?…

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February 6, 2024

US HRC Steel Prices Appear Set to Have a “Humpty Alexander Dumpty”-Like Fall… Which is Not Priced Into CLF’s Shares; PT to $11.41/shr

By Gordon L. Johnson II

Looking Past Last Year’s Delayed Recession, the Real Thing Appears Set to Take Hold in 2024. While steel industry CEO’s have maintained a positive bias thru 4Q23 earnings reporting season, contrary to the belief of…

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February 1, 2024

Are Residential Solar Companies Targeting “Low-Income”/Poor Folks w/ Predatory Loans, Actually Increasing the Financial Burden on America’s Most Vulnerable?

By Gordon L. Johnson II

We Have Constructed a Model Based on a 7.5kW and 3.5kW Residential Rooftop Solar Home System Financed via a Loan in Greenwich, CT, Using NREL’s PVWatts Calculator; Our Findings were Rather Surprising Given the US…

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January 25, 2024

GLJ Solar Weekly – Fireside Chat w/ Leading U.S. Solar Parts Distribution Company and Large Chinese Solar Market Investor Provides Insights into SolarEdge’s/Enphase’s & Solar Industry’s 2024E Outlook

By Gordon L. Johnson II

Price Tracker. Applying a modified approach, we detail PV pricing data by substrate (Ex. 2-3), segmented by Chinese and global prices, tracked each Wednesday by EnergyTrend, PVInsights, and PVInfolink, respectively. This week, price changes in China…

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January 25, 2024

Tesla’s Q4 Results/2024E Guidance Show it’s Nothing More than a Struggling Car Company (not a high-growth tech co.) & Elon Musk is the World’s (most successful) “Sleazy” Used-Car Salesman

By Gordon L. Johnson II

So What Happened, and Why are we Calling the World’s Richest Man a “Sleazy” Used Car Salesman? In this note, we provide what we see as the eight key takeaways from TSLA’s just-reported 4Q23 results,…

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January 23, 2024

Tesla Q4 Earnings Preview: In the Words of B.B. King… “The Thrill is Gone”… for EV Cars That Is; PT to $23.53

By Gordon L. Johnson II

So, What’s Up Next for Tesla and Electric Vehicle “Jesus” Elon Musk? With a cult-like following among retail investors (see here), exacerbated by the fact that the arguably most-followed sell-side analyst on TSLA came out…

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January 19, 2024

GLJ Solar Weekly – November ’23 Census Bureau Data Dump Shows Stubbornly High Solar Module Imports into the US, Implying Demand Bottlenecks in Europe & China in Q4

By Gordon L. Johnson II

Price Tracker. Applying a modified approach, we detail PV pricing data by substrate (Ex. 2-3), segmented by Chinese and global prices, tracked each Wednesday by EnergyTrend, PVInsights, and PVInfolink, respectively. This week, price changes in China…

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January 17, 2024

What do Last Night’s Tesla European Price Cuts Mean to the “Bottom Line”?

By Gordon L. Johnson II

So… are Last Night’s Tesla Car Price Cuts a Big Deal? In this note, ahead of a full update to our bottom-up TSLA earnings driver model due out later this week, we use a back-of-the-envelope…

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January 16, 2024

Is the Sun Setting on SunPower… or Has it Already Set (And the Masses Just Don’t Know it Yet)?

By Gordon L. Johnson II

In this Note, in Addition to Updating our Extensive Bottom-Up SunPower Earnings Driver Model, We Update our Outlook on the Company. In the analysis that follows, following: (1) the Dec. 22nd, 2023 decision by Atlas…

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January 12, 2024

Midnight Valantine’s Day “China-Price-Cut” Massacre Spells Trouble for Tesla’s (Already) Sputtering Margins

By Gordon L. Johnson II

Did Tesla, with its Recent Model 3 “Highland” Refresh, which Pundits Predicted Would Reinvigorate Demand in China (link), Just Slash its China Car Prices Just 12 Days into 1Q24? In short, the answer, resoundingly, is…

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