SolarCity shares fall: Getting too pricey?
Shares of SolarCity fall after Goldman Sachs cuts to 'Neutral' on run-up in share price
NEW YORK (AP) -- Shares of SolarCity Corp. fell Thursday after a Goldman Sachs analyst downgraded the stock, saying it's unlikely the shares will rise much higher.
THE SPARK: Brian Lee cut SolarCity to "Neutral" from "Buy." He says there isn't as much incentive to buy the shares following the recent run up in the price.
THE BIG PICTURE: San Mateo, Calif.-based SolarCity leases and installs solar energy systems for homes and businesses.
The company went public in December. In the months since, The shares have more than tripled their initial public offering price of $8. In March SolarCity announced a $28 million loss for its fourth quarter, its first as a public company.
THE ANALYSIS: Lee, who also raised his price target for the stock by $3 to $23, noted that SolarCity shares have risen 45 percent in the past month, boosted by a variety of positive news about itself and the solar industry overall.
The analyst expects the news to be more mixed going forward and any share price gains won't be enough to warrant a "Buy" rating, given the company's current stock price.
Lee thinks SolarCity's first-quarter results will be "largely in line and uneventful," while restrictions on the trading of some of the shares are set to expire on June 11, which could send them down, he said.
THE SHARES: Down 58 cents, or 2.1 percent, to $27.42 in afternoon trading, after falling as low as $24 earlier in the day. Since going public, the company's shares have traded between $9.20 and $28.23.
