Solar Winners & Losers: LDK Solar (Update)

Updates prices of all stocks to reflect Thursday morning prices.

One solar company isn't planning a walk under the Tuscan sun, but has instead turned its eyes toward the sun in the Apulia region of the country.

There, in a move to increase its presence in Italy, LDK Solar(LDK Quote) has announced that it signed a deal to dot the region with five one-megawatt photovoltaic plants.

In a press release, the Chinese solar concern said it reached an agreement with SAEM, an Italian-based operation which will provide engineering, construction and system integration expertise for the build. LDK Solar, which makes multicrystalline solar wafers used in solar cells, will provide the wafers.

Construction is set to begin in July, with completion expected in November. No financial terms were discussed in the release.

"The Italian PV market continues to be one of the most interesting in Europe and is forecast to grow significantly over the next three years," LDK Solar CEO Xiaofeng Peng said in the release. "Our agreement with SAEM is another noteworthy achievement for us as we work to strengthen our position in the PV power-plants market in Europe and continue to build our foundation to capture future opportunities."

The stock finished a relatively flat day of trading Wednesday at $11.02. However, in early morning trading Thursday, shares in the company opened down 61 cents, to $10.64, on higher than average trading volumes.

In other solar stock movements:

Suntech Power(STP Quote) ADRs opened the day down 42 cents, to $18.09. Wednesday, Ardour Capital had upgraded the stock to buy from hold.

SunPower(SPWRA Quote) shed 41 cents to $26.49 soon after the opening bell Thursday.

Thirty mintues into Thursday trading, Trina Solar(TSL Quote) had shed 61 to come to $25.09.

Shares in First Solar(FSLR Quote) also lost value in the pre-market, dropping $3.59 to open at $151.70.