GT Solar International Inc. (NASDAQ: SOLR) surged 15% on GT’s single largest order to date. Nevertheless, response from the solar sector related exchange traded funds (ETFs) remains muted and the funds continues to mirror the overall decline of the market.
The Guggenheim Solar ETF (NYSEArca: TAN) is down 0.42% and holds 2.67% in SOLR. Market Vectors Solar Energy ETF (NYSEArca: KWT) is down 0.32% and holds 3.24% in SOLR.
GT Solar received a $460.4 million order for the company’s advanced sapphire crystallization furnaces, according to BusinessWire. [First Solar and ETF Reactions to German Energy Move.]
“Our customer is a well established, diversified manufacturing company located in China who is new to the LED industry,” comments Tom Gutierrez, GT Solar’s president and CEO. “The market acceptance of our sapphire growth technology has been remarkable and it speaks to the confidence our customers have shown in our ability to help them build successful businesses that leverage our crystalline growth expertise and our global equipment installation and support resources.”
Strategies Unlimited, an industry analyst firm that tracks the LED industry, projects that revenue for high brightness LED applications will be worth around $19 billion by 2015, with general lighting applications making up a fourth of the total revenues. Demand for sapphire wafers is growing as manufacturing of high brightness LEDs expands.
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Max Chen contributed to this article.
The opinions and forecasts expressed herein are solely those of Tom Lydon, and may not actually come to pass. Mr. Lydon serves as an independent trustee of certain mutual funds and ETFs that are managed by Guggenheim Investments; however, any opinions or forecasts expressed herein are solely those of Mr. Lydon and not those of Guggenheim Funds, Guggenheim Investments, Guggenheim Specialized Products, LLC or any of their affiliates. Information on this site should not be used or construed as an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation for any product.