GT Solar IPO Off to a Cloudy Start

It's been a dark beginning for GT Solar's(SOLR Quote) long-awaited market debut, unless you're one of the company's pre-IPO investors.

GT Solar's stock fell 12% on its first day of trading Thursday with more than 20 million shares traded, equal to two-thirds of the 30 million shares sold in the offering.

On Friday, the stock fell as low as $9.56, or $42 below its $16.50 offering price. It since recovered to $12.89 in recent trading.

GT Solar's underwriters, led by Credit Suisse and UBS, somehow envisioned the IPO sailing smoothly into rough waters. But Thursday was just another bad day to go public as indices tumbled; and Friday brought news that LDK Solar - whose $180 million contract signed last summer accounted for 62% of GT's revenue last fiscal year -- signed a new contract with rival equipment maker JYT Furnaces.

GT Solar was prompted on Friday to say the move by LDK didn't affect its backlog, nor its internal targets or projections.

So GT was the grim exception in the solar sector Friday, which otherwise rallied following several days of losses. JA Solar and Solarfun were up 4% to $14.55 and $13.59, respectively. Yingli Green Energy(YGE Quote) was up 3% at $14.99.

Given demand for polysilicon, GT Solar's equipment is likely to remain in demand with or without LDK. So it makes sense to consider longer-term questions: Is GT Solar a worthwhile investment in the long run? And if so, is its early stumbling providing a chance to buy the stock at a price that's even cheaper than the IPO provided? Or is it just going to sink further?