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No. 2 residential installer Sunrun ( RUN ) could fortify against top rival SolarCity ( SCTY ) by acquiring NRG Energy ‘s ( NRG ) rooftop business, a Credit Suisse analyst suggested Monday. But both Sunrun and SolarCity stocks were torched by the analyst’s estimate cuts. In morning trading on the stock market today , SolarCity stock was down 4.5%, while Sunrun stock was down nearly 2%. SolarCity and Sunrun are slated to report Q1 earnings on May 9 and May 12, respectively. Installations appear to be tracking in line, but bookings are below guidance and will likely jeopardize the companies’ respective 44% and 40% growth guidance, said Credit Suisse analyst Patrick Jobin. Jobin cut his price targets on SolarCity and Sunrun stocks to 62 from 89, and to 18 from 21, respectively. In a research note, Jobin said he expects SolarCity to have installed 178 megawatts in Q1, up 18% year over year, vs. guidance for 180 MW. “We believe we are being very conservative, a necessary measure as the company has missed guidance (in) three of the last five quarters,” he wrote. Jobin expects Sunrun to hit installation views for 56 MW, down 17% vs. the year-earlier quarter, on the exclusion of 12 MW in Nevada. Nevada recently cut payments to solar customers for energy fed back into the grid, and it retroactively applied the new rules to existing customers, prodding solar companies to exit the state. That Nevada net-metering decision, complicated by “regulatory flux” — California and Massachusetts’ rule-making and the Investment Tax Credit extension — is the likely culprit behind slow Q1 bookings, Jobin wrote. For Q1, the consensus of 17 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters tips SolarCity to report $108.5 million in sales, up 61% year over year, and a $2.34 per-share loss minus items, widening from a $1.52 loss in the year-earlier quarter. Three months ago, SolarCity guided to a $2.55-$2.65 per-share loss minus items. Sunrun is expected to report $83.4 million in sales and a 53-cent per-share loss minus items. Sales would fall 16% from Q4, and losses would deepen from a 15-cent loss in the prior quarter. Sunrun made its IPO last August. Jobin cut his U.S. 2016 residential demand to 3 gigawatts, up 45%. Of that, he expects SolarCity to install 1.2 GW, and Sunrun to install 271 MW. NRG could prove a wildcard, Jobin said. A deal with Sunrun would make sense, given the firm’s platform model. “NRG’s residential business has been earmarked for a change — potentially an imminent sale or partnership,” he wrote. “Whatever happens will be critical, as it could enable a weaker player or strengthen an incumbent.”