Category Archives: nasdaq

Sunrun Q1 Losses Set To Mirror SolarCity, Vivint On Nevada Strife

No. 2 residential installer Sunrun ( RUN ) will join top rivals SolarCity ( SCTY ) and Vivint Solar ( VSLR ) in posting a wider loss in Q1, according to the consensus of eight analysts polled by Thomson Reuters. Sunrun stock closed flat Wednesday, at 6.37, ahead of its Q1 earnings out after the close Thursday. Shares are down 46% for the year, where IBD’s 20-company Energy-Solar industry group  is down 41.5%. The group ranks a low No. 170, out of 197 groups tracked. For Q1, Sunrun is expected to report $87.7 million in sales, down 12% sequentially, and a 48-cent per-share loss minus items, widening from a 15-cent loss in the previous quarter. Three months ago, Sunrun guided to 56 megawatts in Q1 deployments, down 18% quarter over quarter. The guide excludes a 12 MW backlog after Sunrun pulled its Nevada operations on regulators’ decision to cut net-metering payments to solar customers. SolarCity also pulled its Nevada operations which, the company says, accounted for about 20 MW in quarterly installations. On Monday, SolarCity cut its 2016 installation guidance, citing slow Q1 bookings related to exiting Nevada.

Tesla Partner Nvidia’s Q1 Sales Seen Speeding Faster Than Most

Wall Street expects Tesla Motors ( TSLA ) partner Nvidia ( NVDA ) to post double-digit sales growth for just the second time in the past six quarters, as well as its biggest earnings growth in five quarters, when the company reports Q1 earnings Thursday. Nvidia stock has zoomed since Feb. 12, up 40% since  Facebook ( FB )-owned Oculus Rift released its first virtual-reality headset. Nvidia and rival Advanced Micro Devices ( AMD ) are the recommended graphics-chip providers for laptops that work with the headsets. Nvidia stock rose a fraction Wednesday to 36.06 ahead of its Q1 report due after the close. For Q1, the consensus of 26 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect Nvidia to report $1.26 billion in sales and 32 cents earnings per share ex items, up a respective 10% and 33% vs. the year-earlier quarter. Sales would decelerate from 12% growth in Q4 but top the four previous quarters. Earnings last climbed above the 30%-growth mark in March 2015. Nvidia’s Q1 report comes a week after the chipmaker and Samsung called for a truce  in their two-year licensing battle. It also follows Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s call for the automaker to manufacturer 1 million electric vehicles by 2020 — a boon to Nvidia, whose chips power digital instrument and infotainment displays in the Model S. Tesla’s yet-to-be-released  Model 3 was marked by “overwhelming demand” when it began taking preorders in April, Musk and Tesla CFO Jason Wheeler told shareholders this month.

Closed-End Funds: Still A Bargain

In a world in which very little is cheap and most mainstream stocks and bonds offer little in the way of expected returns, closed-end funds have been a fantastic source of value. I’ve been writing about closed-end funds for the better part of a year (see Closed-End Bond Funds Near Their Deepest Discounts Since 2008 ) and I’ve been very pleased with their performance in an otherwise choppy, directionless market. Yet I’ve noticed that some of the fantastic bargains I saw a year ago are starting to dry up. Or at least they’re not quite as juicy as they were. The 15% discounts to net asset value are now closer to about 10%. Though it may simply be a case of me getting spoiled. By any historical standard, closed-end funds are still exceptionally well priced. Patrick Galley, manager of the Rivernorth DoubleLine Strategic Income Fund, gave his thoughts to Barron’s this past week. (See 4 Closed-End Funds Yielding Up to 9% ): Q: Closed-end fund discounts have come in a lot since the beginning of the year. Aren’t they getting less attractive in general? A: Actually, closed-end fund discounts are still pretty attractive overall. In January and February they got so wide it was reminiscent of 2008. Fear was high and investors were dumping assets. Discounts got to the 98th percentile of the widest levels they’ve reached going back to 1996. They narrowed in March and April. Now they are at the 76th percentile of the widest levels. The averages are very much skewed by the muni-bond sector. Munis have had a good run and everyone wants them. Investors are chasing those past returns. They aren’t even looking at discounts and premiums. Meanwhile, taxable fixed-income spreads are still wide. As the examples I gave you show, a lot of them are still double-digit discount opportunities. 76th percentile is nothing to complain about. Sure, it was a lot more fun buying them at 2008-caliber discounts. But that’s really not normal, and every buying opportunity can’t be that good. So for the time being, I’ll plan on maintaining a solid allocation to closed-end funds in my Dividend Growth portfolio. The portfolio is up 13.5% year to date , and closed-end funds have certainly played their part in achieving those returns. This article first appeared on Sizemore Insights as Closed-End Funds: Still a Bargain Disclaimer : This site is for informational purposes only and should not be considered specific investment advice or as a solicitation to buy or sell any securities. Sizemore Capital personnel and clients will often have an interest in the securities mentioned. There is risk in any investment in traded securities, and all Sizemore Capital investment strategies have the possibility of loss. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.