Energy Business Boosts GE; Solar Stocks Battered

Written by Ucilia Wang

Battered by more financial market fallout, the gloomy week ended with General Electric (GE) on Friday announcing a big profit boost from its energy business in the third quarter.

GE said the profit from its energy-technologies business, which includes wind turbines, smart-grid products and solar panels, jumped 34 percent to reach $1.1 billion in the third quarter from the year-ago period. Profit from the company's energy-financial services jumped 21 percent to reach $306 million while financial services in real estate and most other sectors posted losses.

The giant firm doesn't break down its earnings for its myriad activities in renewable energy. Overall, GE reported earnings of $4.3 billion, or 43 cents per share, for the third quarter. The earnings declined by 22 percent, but diluted earnings per share fell only 20 percent from the same quarter in 2007, thanks to the performance of the company's financial-services segment. GE's third-quarter revenue rose 11 percent to reach $47.2 billion.

The U.S. stock markets began a deep dive on Monday, as investors saw the $700 billion bailout plan from the federal government as an inadequate measure to prop up a crumbling economy. Solar stocks suffered alongside the financial markets, seeing double-digit declines, influenced partly by worries that companies won't be able to raise the millions of dollars they will need to build factories and power plants.

Even First Solar (FSLR), long admired by investors for its ability to make good money by making thin-film solar panels cheaply, hasn't been immune to the market crisis.