second team Stephen Chin UBS
third team Satya Kumar Credit Suisse
Debuting in the top spot in this new sector is Vishal Shah of Barclays Capital. Clients credit Shah, 33, with “intellectual honesty” and a “good sense of the competitive dynamics affecting each company.” In February the analyst told investors that Chinese developers of solar technology stood to gain from policy changes in Beijing supporting alternative energy, and he recommended they buy the American depositary receipts of Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. and JA Solar Holdings Co., among others. By the end of August, the ADRs had advanced 72.1 and 19.1 percent, respectively, well ahead of the sector’s 4.5 percent gain. Shah, who earned an MBA at the Institut Européen d’Administration des Affaires in 2002, worked as a semiconductors analyst at Morgan Stanley and Needham & Co. before joining Lehman Brothers in 2005.
“Driven and extremely proactive” is how one buy-sider describes Stephen Chin, who takes second-place honors. The UBS analyst downgraded Rochester Hills, Michigan–based Energy Conversion Devices to sell in October 2008, at $28.45, on declining residential demand for solar-powered devices. The stock plunged 60.6 percent through August, to $11.21.
In third place is Credit Suisse’s Satya Kumar, who “does an excellent job of evaluating the cost structures of solar companies,” observes one backer. Kumar urged investors to buy shares of First Solar in November, at $87.23, citing strong earnings at the Tempe, Arizona–based manufacturer of solar technology for utility companies. In July, after the stock had rocketed 99 percent, to $173.55, the analyst downgraded it to sell, on valuation. First Solar’s stock had dimmed 29.9 percent, to $121.58, by August 31.
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