SunPower Shines on Analyst Upgrade

SAN JOSE, Calif. (TheStreet) -- Shares of SunPower(SPWRA) surged Friday morning after the solar company's stock was upgraded.

Soleil Securities upgraded shares of SunPower to buy from hold, noting that "checks indicate that a large volume of system development business in the [photovoltaic] sector is going to be finalized in the fourth quarter of this year."

SunPower shares jumped 10.2% at midday, to $11.05.

The equity research firm expects SunPower to post earnings of 90 cents per share over the next fourth months.

Earlier this week solar industry peer Trina Solar(TSL) experienced mixed broker action, a day after the Chinese manufacturer of solar photovoltaic products beat earnings expectations and upped its forecast for solar shipment volume.

>> Trina Solar Slides on Mixed Analyst Views

"Trina is speaking for the group and we've heard similar stories from all of Trina's Chinese peers and from First Solar(FSLR) in the U.S.," Auriga analyst Mark W. Bachman told TheStreet. By reporting last in the queue of earnings reports in the sector, Trina had more time to look at future demand and was therefore the first to give a real indication that demand in 2011 will be stronger.

Bachman reiterated his buy recommendation, and upped his price target by $5 to $41 per share.

Trina raised its capacity numbers for growth between 40% and 50%, and expects to achieve scale of 1.5 gigawatts by the end of 2011.

>> Trina Solar Forecasts Brighter Future