EOG Resources Benefits from Early-Mover Purchases

Like other U.S. natural gas producers, EOG Resources (EOG-$125.03) responded in recent years to slumping natural gas prices by spending heavily to lease unconventional oil plays. Although EOG invested more than $16 billion in just the last three years to acquire and develop shale assets, such as Eagle Ford and Permian Basin in Texas and Bakken acreage in North Dakota, evidence suggests the company hasn’t blown-up its balance sheet to transition its portfolio of natural gas to liquids production.

At September 30, EOG had $1.1 billion of cash on hand, giving the company non-GAAP net debt of $5.2 billion – and a net debt-to-total capitalization ratio of 27%.

Continue Reading at YCharts: Same Strategy, Better Result: EOG Resources Laps the Natural Gas Field

Editor David J Phillips does not hold a financial interest in any stocks mentioned in this article. The 10Q Detective has a Full Disclosure Policy.

Sky Is Not Falling at Trina Solar

Fears of an inevitable bankruptcy filing by Trina Solar (TSL-$5.02) are being catalyzed by the necessary refinancing of $778 million in short-term debt and irrational musings that $14 billion in off-balance sheet liabilities will need to be reclassified back on the balance sheet as debt.

Contrary to the hysteria being spread by Chicken Little and her bearish short-sellers, the sky is not falling in at Trina Solar, an examination of its reported finances suggests. As of September 30, the company’s capital structure was on sound footing, with the asset ledger holding some $600 million in unrestricted cash, a working capital surplus of $360.6 million, and only $13.8 million in interest-related servicing costs....

Continue Reading at YCharts:  Short Sellers Disparage Trina Solar, But Our Man Tells a Different Story

Editor David J Phillips does not hold a financial interest in any stocks mentioned in this article. The 10Q Detective has a Full Disclosure Policy.

Module Costs Not Falling Fast Enough at Yingli Green

Yingli Green Energy Holding (YGE-$2.95) is aggressively looking to achieve cost savings through vertical integration and technological improvements, from lower energy consumption in ingot casting, water recycling, and reduced waste in wafer yields to higher module efficiencies. In third-quarter 2012, the company brought non-silicon costs down to $0.53 per watt, from $0.66 per watt last year.

Driven by industry overcapacity throughout the capacity chain, the downstream decline in the ASP of crystalline-based modules has been more dramatic, falling more than 50% in the last 12-months to just $0.60 per watt by December 2012, according to market research firm ENF. Ergo, capacity expansion and improvements in operational efficiency haven’t helped margins at Yingli.

Continue Reading at YCharts: Solar Outfit Yingli Appears to Be Pulling Our Leg: We’ve Read the Fine Print

Editor David J Phillips does not hold a financial interest in any stocks mentioned in this article. The 10Q Detective has a Full Disclosure Policy.

Warren Buffet Aside - Putting A Chill in SunPower

Going forward, SunPower (SPWR-$8.19) hopes to replicate the success of its Antelope Valley project with contract wins for utility-scale projects in new markets, from Australia to the Middle East and Asia, in particular Japan and mainland China. To date, however, its global footprint is nondescript: In the first nine months of 2012, North America and Europe accounted for 68% and 23% of total sales.

Should global market conditions re-balance in second-half 2013, the company still faces the same old headwinds: the presence of cheaper Chinese competitors, like Yingli Green Energy (YGE), and customers highly dependent on public subsidies, whether the nomenclature be tax credits or the once-popular feed-in tariffs. Christopher Blansett, an analyst at JPMorgan Chase (JPM), articulated it best: “SunPower is living off of borrowed time. Eventually, revenue from [these] large projects will end, and new sales will probably be at lower prices.”

Continue Reading at YCharts:  SunPower: Stock Rises 50% on Berkshire Deal: Why That’s An Exit Opportunity

Editor David J Phillips does not hold a financial interest in any stocks mentioned in this article. The 10Q Detective has a Full Disclosure Policy.

Is Pfizer Deal the 'Cure-All' for Halozyme Therapeutics

Halozyme (HALO-$7.40) gained more than $147 million in market capitalization on investor excitement that sales from the Pfizer (PFE) collaboration could total $507 million. However, this is an earn-out deal, and most of these millions will only show up on the income statement if – and only if – future development, regulatory and sales-based milestones are reached.

Continue Reading at YCharts: The Story Behind Little Halozyme’s Seemingly Exciting Hookup With Pfizer

Editor David J Phillips does not hold a financial interest in any stocks mentioned in this article. The 10Q Detective has a Full Disclosure Policy.

Crazies Good for Business at Smith & Wesson

Human behavior as it is – and irrespective of one’s position on gun control – 2013 will likely be a very profitable year for Smith & Wesson (SWHC-$8.15) shareholders. Nonetheless, given the headlining visibility and public disgust over the paroxysmal spate of massacres still fresh in our collective memory (from the 1999 shootings at Columbine High to the crazed gunman slaughtering moviegoers in Aurora, Colorado this past July), investors are fearful that emotional momentum could force Congress to work with President Obama and enact a meaningful ban on the sale of assault weapons – common parlance, “sporting rifles.”

The recent decline in Smith & Wesson’s stock price, in my opinion, already reflects this worst-case scenario - the total ban of assault weapons with large ammunition clips.

Continue Reading at YCharts:  Why Smith & Wesson Will Likely Prosper Despite Any Gun Control Law

Editor David J Phillips does not hold a financial interest in any stocks mentioned in this article. The 10Q Detective has a Full Disclosure Policy.