Why Shares of Trina Solar Limited Jumped Today

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of solar manufacturer Trina Solar Limited jumped 11% today after announcing earnings.

So what: Fourth-quarter revenue was down 4% sequentially to $525.6 million on a slight decline in module shipments. But the company did report net income of $9.6 million, or $0.13 per share, which was well ahead of the two-cent loss analysts expected.

Now what: It's a positive to be reporting a profit, but given that China installed around 12 GW of solar last year, the numbers could have been better. Still, Trina Solar has a better balance sheet and income statement than peers and may have the capacity to build the next generation of solar capacity this year or next. I don't think this was an outstanding report, because there wasn't much of a profit in an outstanding quarter for solar, but the market disagrees today, and shares were up big.

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The article Why Shares of Trina Solar Limited Jumped Today originally appeared on Fool.com.

Travis Hoium and The Motley Fool have no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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