Yingli sees rebound, beats Wall Street forecast

Rosy earnings from Chinese solar panel maker Yingli Green Energy over the weekend stood in stark contrast to the dismal reports from its rivals, and the company said market signs pointed to a rebound in the second half of the year.

The solar industry has been battered in 2011 by steep declines in the prices for the modules that turn sunlight into electricity, shrinking profit margins and pushing some of the largest players into the red.

The MAC Solar companies index has slumped more than 31 percent so far this year, more than three times the drop in the S&P 500.

Yingli, however, managed to beat Wall Street forecasts with its second-quarter earnings issued on Friday as its shipments jumped nearly 37 percent from the first quarter, and it stuck with its forecast that it would sell more than 1,700 megawatts of solar panels this year.

That helped lift Yingli's share price more than 3 percent, gaining back a bit of the selloff that has wiped off more than 40 percent of its value this year.

"The stock has probably found a pretty nice bottom right here," said Mark Bachman, analyst with Avian Securities LLC. "They were the first company so far this earnings period to come out and say things are looking better."

Global demand for solar panels sank in the first half as governments in the top two markets, Germany and Italy, pared their subsidies that make the technology competitive with fossil fuels.