Thursday's Winners & Losers: Solar Stocks

Shares of solar power-related stocks were among the market's winners Thursday, with several names soaring after First Solar (FSLR) - Get Report shattered Wall Street's earnings expectations.

Late Wednesday, First Solar posted earnings of $46 million, or 58 cents a share, including a 9-cent tax gain. Analysts, on average, expected a profit of just 19 cents a share, according to Thomson Financial. Revenue of $159 million smashed Wall Street's target of $120.4 million.

First Solar received multiple analyst upgrades after the report, and shares recently were surging $51.50, or 31%, to $218.62. Fellow solar player

Evergreen Solar

( ESLR) jumped $2.18, or 16%, to $15.83, while

JA Solar

(JASO)

climbed $5.88, or 9.8%, to $66.

Elsewhere,

Rockwell Automation

(ROK) - Get Report

rose 7% after the company posted in-line fiscal fourth-quarter results. The maker of industrial-automation products reported earnings from continuing operations of $163.8 million, or $1.07 a share, on sales of $1.37 billion. Those results matched Wall Street's estimates.

Looking ahead, Rockwell forecast earnings of $4.25 to $4.45 a share for the fiscal year ending next September. Analysts, on average, project earnings of $4.30 a share. The stock was climbing $4.44 to $70.81.

Among losers,

Sotheby's

(BID) - Get Report

plunged 33% after the company reportedly had disappointing results for its latest auction. According to

Reuters

, a major Vincent Van Gogh piece went unsold, while other works received bids well below expectations. The auction house's total take of $270 million fell well short of low presale estimates of $355 million,

Reuters

said. Sotheby's shares were tumbling $16.54 to $33.53.

Hansen Natural

( HANS) sank 28% after the energy-drink maker missed Wall Street's third-quarter targets. Hansen reported third-quarter earnings of $45.8 million, or 46 cents a share, and sales of $247.2 million. Analysts were looking for a profit of 49 cents a share and sales of $258 million. Shares were tumbling $16.48 to $40.19.

Several retailers were lower after posting weaker-than-expected sales for October. Among them,

Zumiez

(ZUMZ) - Get Report

lost 27% after the maker of action-sports apparel cut its earnings target for the year. Zumiez said it now sees full-year earnings of 92 cents to 94 cents a share, down from its August projection of 97 cents to 99 cents. Shares were diving $10.84 to $28.61.

Chico's

(CHS) - Get Report

shares dropped 10% after the women's apparel seller forecast third-quarter earnings below Wall Street's estimate. The company, noting a challenging economic environment and warm weather, estimated earnings of 10 cents to 13 cents a share, including a 2-cent gain. Analysts, on average, forecast earnings of 16 cents a share. Chico's shares were sliding $1.29 to $10.93.