Stock Alert for Hoku Corporation ($HOKU)
Hoku Corporation (NASDAQ: $HOKU)
Hoku Corporation (HOKU), formerly Hoku Scientific Inc., is a diversified clean energy technologies company with three business units: Hoku Materials, Hoku Solar and Hoku Fuel Cells. Hoku Materials plans to manufacture, market, and sell polysilicon for the solar market from its plant under construction in Pocatello, Idaho. Hoku Solar markets, sells and installs photovoltaic systems in Hawaii. Hoku Fuel Cells has developed fuel cell membranes and membrane electrode assemblies for stationary and automotive proton exchange membrane fuel cells.
The Company was formerly known as Hoku Scientific Inc. and changed its name to Hoku Corporation on March 19, 2010. Hoku Corporation was incorporated in 2001 and is based in Honolulu, Hawaii.
| Share Statistics (3-May-10) | FY
2007 |
FY
2008 |
%
Chg |
Q4 2008 | Q4 2009 | %
Chg |
||
| Symbol | HOKU | Revenue, $Mn | 5.37M | 3.23M | 39.9% | 0.62M | 0.11M | 82.3% |
| Current price | $2.95 | Gross marg. | 40.9% | 28.4% | 30.6% | n/a | 15.5% | n/a |
| 52wk Range: | $4.64-1.67 | Oper. margin | -75.7% | -166.5% | 119.9% | n/a | -1000% | n/a |
| Avg Vol (3m): | 113,322 | Net margin | -51.2% | -132.8% | 159.4% | n/a | -818.1% | n/a |
| Market Cap. | 161.89M | |||||||
| Dil. Shares Outst. | 54.9M | EPS, $ | -0.17 | -0.26 | 52.9% | -0.12 | -0.04 | 66.7% |
Source: Reuters.com, SEC Filings.
Financial Summary
Revenue for the quarters ended December 31, 2009, and 2008 was $259,000 and $767,000, respectively, derived primarily from photovoltaic, or PV, system installation and related service contracts. Revenues for the quarter ended December 31, 2009, were lower than expected as a result of management’s focus on financing for the Company’s polysilicon facility under construction in Pocatello, Idaho, and due to slower purchasing cycles for PV systems in Hawaii in 2009. As of December 31, 2009, deferred revenue of $495,000 was attributable to PV system installations and related service contracts.
Net loss for the quarter ended December 31, 2009, computed in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP, was $1.3 million, or $0.06 per diluted share, compared to $863,000, or $0.04 per diluted share, for the same period in fiscal 2009.
Non-GAAP net loss for the quarter ended December 31, 2009, which excludes the effect of stock-based compensation, was $969,000, or $0.05 per diluted share, compared to $646,000, or $0.03 per diluted share, for the same period in fiscal 2009. Non-GAAP net loss for the quarters ended December 31, 2009, and 2008 excludes non-cash stock-based compensation of $296,000 and $217,000, respectively.
HOKU reported that it had received the first tranche of $20 million in debt financing from Tianwei on January 21, 2010, and that it expects to receive the second tranche of $30 million in late February 2010.
| Financial Strength (3-May-2010) | Company | Industry | Sector | S&P 500 |
| Quick Ratio (MRQ) | 0.06 | 0.52 | 1.37 | 0.71 |
| Current Ratio (MRQ) | 0.07 | 0.63 | 1.61 | 0.84 |
| Long-Term Debt to Equity(MRQ) | 98.94 | 9.08 | 24.27 | 142.80 |
| Total Debt to Equity (MRQ) | 98.94 | 14.92 | 36.65 | 204.59 |
Source: Reuters.com, SEC Filings.
Analyst Consensus
| Buy | Outperform | Hold | Underperform | Sell | No Opinion |
This is the consensus forecast amongst 2 polled investment analysts. Against the Hoku Corp company.
| Analyst Detail | Buy | Outperform | Hold | Underperform | Sell | No Opinion |
| Latest | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 4 weeks ago | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2 months ago | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 3 months ago | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Last year | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
The one analyst offering a 12 month price target expects HOKU share price to fall to 1.25 in the next year from the last price of 2.95.
Source: www.ft.com
Consensus Estimates Analysis
| # of Estimates | Mean | High | Low | 1 Year Ago | |
| SALES (in millions) | |||||
| Quarter Ending Jun-10 | 2 | 4.45 | 7.50 | 1.40 | 16.50 |
| Quarter Ending Sep-10 | 2 | 19.95 | 20.90 | 19.00 | 22.30 |
| Year Ending Mar-10 | 2 | 3.20 | 3.50 | 2.90 | 46.63 |
| Year Ending Mar-11 | 2 | 98.70 | 101.00 | 96.40 | 164.37 |
| EARNINGS (per share) | |||||
| Quarter Ending Jun-10 | 2 | -0.06 | -0.02 | -0.11 | -0.17 |
| Quarter Ending Sep-10 | 2 | -0.06 | -0.04 | -0.09 | -0.03 |
| Year Ending Mar-10 | 2 | -0.19 | -0.18 | -0.19 | -0.57 |
| Year Ending Mar-11 | 2 | -0.16 | -0.09 | -0.22 | -0.05 |
Source: http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/financialHighlights?symbol=HOKU.W
Investment Highlights
HOKU recently announced it had successfully produced polysilicon at its manufacturing facility in Pocatello, Idaho.
HOKU said it had produced the material after completing a comprehensive system commissioning protocol that culminated in deposition runs in a select number of its installed polysilicon reactors. The Company explained that the primary purpose of the testing was to confirm system integrity and validate operating procedures.
HOKU said it had operated the reactors continuously for approximately five days during the final phases of the commissioning procedure. During these live reactor runs, HOKU utilized trichlorosilane purchased from third-party suppliers. This is the same product that the Company plans to use during its initial commercial production runs this year.
Source: http://www.hokucorp.com/
Technical Analysis
Source: http://stockcharts.com
HOKU is trading above its 30 day moving average. This is considered to be the sign of a bullish trend. There is added weight to this indication because the moving average is rising and suggests that there has been buying interest in this stock.
HOKU is trading above its upper Bollinger Band. Relative to recent price action, the stock is currently overextended and due for either a pause or retracement.
The MACD for HOKU currently indicates a strong bullish signal for two reasons. First, the MACD is above the signal line, a 9day moving average. Second, the MACD is above 0 which implies that the underlying moving averages are trending higher.
Comparative Analysis
| Company Name | Ticker | Price per | Mrkt. Cap. | P/E | P/S | ||
| May-3-2010 | symbol | Share, $ | $ Mn | 2009 | 2010 | 2009 | 2010 |
| Ascent Solar Tech Inc. | ASTI | 3.81 | 101.62M | n/a | n/a | 71.40 | n/a |
| Evergreen Solar Inc. | ESLR | 1.12 | 232.82M | n/a | n/a | 0.87 | n/a |
| Energy Conversion Devices Inc. | ENER | 7.11 | 325.27M | n/a | n/a | 1.03 | n/a |
| Semiconductor Median | 219.90M | 14.30 | n/a | 24.43 | n/a | ||
| Hoku Corp. | HOKU | 2.95 | 161.89M | n/a | n/a | 29.01 | n/a |
Source: Thomson Financial
Insider Trading Activity
| NET SHARES PURCHSE ACTIVITY
Inside Purchases – Last 6 Months |
||
| Shares | Transaction | |
| Purchases | n/a | 0 |
| Sales | 160,074 | 8 |
| Net Shares Purchased (Sold) | (160,074) | 8 |
| Total Insider Shares Held | 37.57M | n/a |
| % Net Shares Purchased (Sold) | (0.4%) | n/a |
| Net Institutional Purchases — Prior Qtr to Latest Qtr | |
| Shares | |
| Net Shares Purchased (Sold) | (667,384) |
| % Change in Institutional Shares Held | (123.6%) |
Source: Yahoo Finance
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