American Superconductor Gets Contract From HHI

DEVENS, Mass. (AP) — American Superconductor Corp. said Tuesday it has received an order from South Korean shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. Ltd. for 17 wind turbine electrical systems.

Hyundai Heavy Industries plans to use the systems in 1.65-megawatt doubly fed induction wind turbines it is building under a license from an American Superconductor subsidiary. Financial terms were not disclosed.

In a related research note published Tuesday, Raymond James analyst Pavel Molchanov upgraded American Superconductor's stock to "outperform" from "market perform." He also raised his price target by 50 cents to $33.50.

He noted the Devens, Mass.-based company's largest customer, Sinovel, said at the end of July it would be expanding and accelerating its turbine components contract.

American Superconductor, which makes equipment for power generators and utilities, then raised its fiscal 2009 revenue outlook to $260 million to $270 million from $225 million to $235 million.

Shares of American Superconductor were up $1.28, or 4.3 percent, to $30.95 in afternoon trading.