SunPower’s stock jumps after an upgrade to strong buy

SunPower Corp. shares
SPWR,
+8.19%
were shooting about 12% higher in Wednesday’s premarket action after Raymond James analyst Pavel Molchanov upgraded the stock to strong buy from outperform. Molchanov said that while California’s NEM 3.0 net-metering policy is a negative, it doesn’t alter “the underlying reality of ever-rising penetration.” He continues to see growth opportunities ahead in the residential solar market. “As it stands, 4% of single-family homes in the U.S. have rooftop solar, which compares to approximately 15% in Germany and the global high of 25% in Australia,” Molchanov wrote. “All of these numbers will increase over time, but the U.S. certainly has room to catch up with what’s been happening overseas.” SunPower shares are off 47% so far this year, and Molchanov said he and his team “look at the recent underperformance in SunPower shares as a buying opportunity.”