Breaking the Kubernetes Kill Chain: Host Path Mount
Needham Clean Tech Monthly December
1. January 7, 2010 Theodore Kundtz • tkundtz@needhamco.com • 212-705-0380
Edwin Mok • emok@needhamco.com • 415-262-4896
Vernon P. Essi, Jr. • vessi@needhamco.com • 212-705-0948
Sean Hannan • shannan@needhamco.com • 212-705-0106
James Ricchiuti • jricchiuti@needhamco.com • 212-705-0381
Conor Irvine • cirvine@needhamco.com • 415-262-4868
Clean Technology Monthly
Needham & Co. Clean Technology Monthly
Highlights for the Month of December
This month, we highlight our recent Clean Tech research, including Edwin Mok’s Solar PV Industry Update and
initiation of AEIS as well as Sean Hannan’s initiation of Itron. Our “DOE Watch” tracks recent DOE spending and
our “Green Gossip” section analyzes recent developments in regulation and legislation. We also review recent
and upcoming Clean Tech deal activity. The Needham & Co. Clean Technology Indices: Energy Creation, Energy
Efficiency and Environmental Sciences & Services increased 5.73%, 8.35% and 3.55%, respectively, in December.
• Sean Hannan initiated coverage on Itron, Inc. with a Hold rating. Itron is a leading technology provider of
meters and related solutions for electric, gas and water utility applications. Edwin Mok initiated coverage on
Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. with a Buy rating and a $16 12-month price target and upgraded Sunpower
to Buy with a price target of $32.
• The DOE announced a series of awards in December, highlighted by $979 million for carbon capture and
sequestration (CCS), $564 million to fund 19 biorefineries and $60 million for the interconnection of the
national smart grid. Approximately $9.2 billion remains available in DOE funding through ARRA for clean
technologies.
• Despite the majority of popular media’s belief that all was lost at the Copenhagen Climate Change
Conference last month, we see the Conference as an important and successful event for the clean
technology industry due to its focus on mobilizing approximately $830 billion over the next ten years in
clean technology and deforestation support for developing countries. While the conference failed to
produce legally-binding GHG reduction targets, we are encouraged by the EPA’s apparent readiness to
monitor GHG, which it now deems a danger to public health - an announcement that was well received by
clean tech investors.
• Deal activity leveled off in December with 44 M&A announcements; down four from November and nine less
then were announced in December 2008. There were three clean tech IPOs in December, up from 2 in
November and zero during the same month last year. We are optimistic for the clean tech IPO market as
investor interest for the upcoming Solyndra IPO appears to be high.
• The Needham & Co. Energy Efficiency Index rose 8.35% in December, outperforming the S&P 500, which
rose by 1.78%. The Needham & Co. Energy Creation and Environmental Sciences & Services Indices also
outperformed the S&P 500, both increasing by 5.73% and 3.55%, respectively.
Figure 1: Needham & Co. Clean Tech Vertical Indices – 11/30/09 – 12/31/09
110
Energy Creation Index Energy Ef f iciency Index
Environmental Sciences & Services Index S&P 500 Energy
108 8.35%
Effic iency
106
E nergy Creation 5.73%
104
Environmental
102 Sc ienc es & 3.55%
Servic es
100
S&P 500 1.78%
98
11/30 12/7 12/14 12/21 12/28
Source: FactSet, Needham & Company, LLC.
2. Table of Contents
Needham & Co. Clean Tech Research Recap.......................................................................................... 3
DOE Watch: From Regulator to Rainmaker .......................................................................................... 7
Green Gossip: Legislation, Policy and Developments in the New Energy Era ..................................... 9
Investment & Market Activity ................................................................................................................. 10
Venture Capital & Private Equity...................................................................................................... 10
Mergers & Acquisitions .................................................................................................................... 10
IPO Activity ...................................................................................................................................... 12
Market Performance ................................................................................................................................. 14
Energy Generation ............................................................................................................................ 15
Energy Efficiency.............................................................................................................................. 19
Environmental Sciences & Services.................................................................................................. 21
Tables ......................................................................................................................................................... 22
Needham & Company, LLC’s Clean Technology Universe/Verticals & Sub-Segments Figure 2
Clean Technology
Verticals
Environmental Sciences and
Energy Creation Energy Efficiency
Services
! Solar Value Chain ! Power Management/Smart Grid/ ! Haz/Non-Haz Waste Treatment
" Silicon producers, wafer Metering " Remediation of contaminated land,
ingots, silicon cells and " Efficient
grid-level networks and systems that soil, water and buildings.
modules, thin-film modules, measure and control energy consumption,
vertically integrated, systems various metering technologies. ! Pollution Abatement
and integrators, equipment " Air purification and pollution controls,
! Energy Storage indoor air quality, emissions sensors
! Wind Infrastructure " Rechargeable batteries, fuel cells, flywheels, and analyzers
Sub-Segments
" Components, gearboxes, super capacitors, utility-grade storage
structures, turbines, bearings, solutions ! Filtration
subsystems " Purification products/services,
! Lighting Efficiency/Advanced Lighting filtration products/services
! Alternative Fuels " Energy efficient lighting and systems, LEDs
" Ethanol, biofuels, hydrogen ! Green Materials
generation, biodigestors, fuel ! Alt. Propulsion/Alt. Energy Vehicles " Construction, biogenerated,
additives " Hybrid vehicles, hybrid drivetrain, electric biodegradable, and green building
vehicles materials
! Power Management Semiconductors
Source: Needham & Company, LLC.
2 An Investment Analysis by Needham & Company, LLC
3. Needham & Co. Clean Tech Research Recap
Solar PV Industry Update: Our 2010 Outlook
Strong Recovery to Extend into 2010 as the Industry
Broadens Beyond Germany (1/04/10)
Y. Edwin Mok – ymok@needhamco.com
Conor Irvine – cirvine@needhamco.com
Despite overcapacity throughout the solar supply chain, we believe demand
for solar products will continue to grow in 2010. We believe growth will be
driven by the desire to capitalize on good IRRs in several key regions, the rush to
complete installations in anticipation for a sharper FIT cut in Germany, an
improved credit market providing project financing, and favorable subsidies in
countries such as the U.S, Italy, Japan and China, and the province of Ontario,
Canada. Additionally, with prices stabilizing, we believe many solar markets have
become more elastic, which has kicked off a new growth cycle in the industry.
While a subsidy cut in Germany in the back half of 2010 creates potential risk, we
believe a slowdown in Germany could be mitigated by strong growth in other
regions. Overall, we believe companies with good cost structure will generate solid
profits, and companies with strong project pipelines will deliver outperforming
revenue growth. Based on our positive view, we continue to like JASO and
SPWRA within our coverage universe.
Growth in the worldwide solar market has broadened from Germany into
multiple markets. Following the fall of solar instillations in Spain, Germany rose
to the occasion and generated half of the worldwide solar instillations in 2009,
driven by favorable subsidies that generate favorable IRRs. While Germany is
likely to remain one of the most important solar markets, we believe the worldwide
solar industry will become less concentrated in 2010, and we expect newly
forming solar markets to experience meaningful growth in the next few years.
We see upside to consensus revenue estimates in 1H10. As a result of
strengthening near term demand and improved order visibility, we believe
shipments generally tracked higher for 4Q09 and see un-seasonal sequential
growth in various markets in 1Q10. We note that the Street is modeling 1H10
aggregate solar revenue to grow only 3% over 2H09, and 2H10 revenue to grow
19% over 1H10. We believe the Street's estimates are too conservative, as the
demand picture continues to improve into the New Year and prices remain stable.
Price stabilization driving demand growth in various regions.
When prices were falling early in 2009, demand across various end markets
became inelastic. However, demand has seen a dramatic uptick in the back half of
2009, as buyers moved off the sideline, which has allowed prices to stabilize. With
stable prices, we expect solar markets in various regions to become more elastic,
and expect solar installations to grow in 2010 as a result. Polysilicon remains the
most oversupplied market in the solar food chain, and we expect prices for
polysilicon to continue to fall; however, we believe prices of downstream products
are more stable due to the pickup in demand, and we expect margins to expand
as a result.
We continue to like cost leaders and companies that are leveraged to the
U.S. In our opinion, JA Solar Holdings (JASO, Buy) will remain the cost leader in
solar cell manufacturing, which should enable the company to gain further market
share in European markets and Japan. Among the low cost producers, we believe
JASO can deliver above average growth due to continued share gain and its
expansion into the OEM module business. We believe SunPower (SPWRA, Buy)
is well positioned in the U.S. market, from small scale residential, commercial to
large-scale utilities and government projects. Besides being the leading
manufacturer of high-efficiency solar products, we believe SPWRA has developed
An Investment Analysis by Needham & Company, LLC 3
4. a comprehensive approach in providing a solar power solution that will be a
sustainable advantage over the long term.
SunPower Corp. – Upgraded to Buy from Under
Review (SPWRA) – (12/17/09)
Y. Edwin Mok – ymok@needhamco.com
Conor Irvine – cirvine@needhamco.com
SPWRA: Robust Near-term Demand to Drive Upside, Likely to Overshadow
Accounting Issues; Revising SPWRA from Under Review to Buy
On 12/17/09, we revised our SPWRA rating to Buy (from Under Review) and
set a price target of $32. We believe the recent update on the ongoing internal
investigation into accounting issues has improved investor confidence that these
issues will be behind the company shortly. Based on strengthening demand in
several key markets, including Germany and Italy, and share gains driven by the
expansion of SunPower's dealer network, we see upside to estimates in the near
term. Heading into 2010, we believe SunPower is best positioned in the growing
U.S. market. With the shares trading below levels before the accounting issues,
we recommend investors use the weakness as a buying opportunity.
Accounting issues still outstanding, but more confident that the impact will
be minimal.
Although SunPower has not completed the investigation into accounting
irregularities, we believe the press release gave investors some reassurance that
the accounting issues will have minimal impact to prior financials. We continue to
believe these accounting issues have no impact to reported and future revenues.
Robust near term demand suggests upside to 4Q09 revenue estimates.
Heading into 2010, we are seeing strong demand in several key regions including
Germany, Italy and the U.S. Industry participants have confirmed that the near
term strength should extend into at least 1H10. We believe SunPower's 2009
revenue guidance looks conservative, and based on strengthened demand, we
see upside to consensus estimates for 4Q09 and 2010.
SPWRA best positioned to benefit from the growth in the U.S. solar market.
In 2010, we continue to believe the U.S. solar market will see substantial growth
driven by increased availability of federal stimulus spending and a number of
state/local subsidies. We believe SunPower is well positioned in all market
segments, from small scale residential, commercial to large-scale utilities and
government projects.
Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. (AEIS): Inverter
Business and Diversification Powering Growth;
Initiated Coverage with Buy - (12/15/09)
Y. Edwin Mok – ymok@needhamco.com
Conor Irvine – corvine@needhamco.com
On 12/15/09, we initiated coverage of Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. with
a Buy rating and a 12-month price target of $16. As a leader in power
conversion technology for advanced thin-film processes, we believe AEIS is well
positioned to benefit from a recovery in key end markets, which include semi
equipment, flat panel display, data storage and solar manufacturing. With a more
diversified business, we believe Advanced Energy's revenues will return to prior
peak levels and earnings will surpass prior peak levels even with a potentially
4 An Investment Analysis by Needham & Company, LLC
5. muted semi equipment cycle. We believe its solar inverter business is in the early
stage of a multiple year expansion and the company is rapidly gaining market
share in the U.S. commercial solar market, which we project will see substantial
growth in the coming years. We believe AEIS offers better growth potential than
semi equipment companies, and the shares will outperform in 2010.
Well positioned to leverage a recovery in several key end markets. We see
strong capital spending growth in several end markets in 2010, particularly in semi
equipment (largest end market), hard-disk storage and flat panel display. In semi
equipment, we project average inventory of key customers will return to normal
range of 130 days by 4Q09.
Diversification offsets a potentially muted semi equipment cycle, enabling
revenue to return to and EPS to surpass prior peak levels. AEIS has
increased non-semi revenue from 29% of revenue in 2002 (last semi cycle trough)
to 40% in 2009 (recent trough). With a higher mix of non-semi business (better
GM), revenues should return to prior peak levels of $350-400MM in 2011, with
earnings power over $1/sh.
Emerging solar inverter will drive substantial growth. We believe AEIS's inverter
business is in the early stages of a multi-year ramp. With its differentiating
transformer-less technology, we believe AEIS is rapidly gaining share in the U.S. large-
scale solar market, which we estimate will grow at a 40% CAGR from 2009-11. We
expect its recent entry into the European market drive incremental growth in 2010.
Initiated Coverage of Itron, Inc. (ITRI) – Hold
(12/17/09)
Sean K.F. Hannan – shannan@needhamco.com
Initiating Coverage at Hold
On 12/17/09, we initiated coverage of ITRI, a leading technology provider of
meters and related solutions for electric, gas and water utility applications, at Hold
on valuation and pending improved visibility on timing of opportunities.
Through multiple acquisitions and investments, Itron stands at the top of the global
meter market that is gaining renewed interest as a core component to the smart
grid. Leveraging its established history and deep customer relationships, we
believe the company is well positioned to benefit from technology shifts toward
advanced meter infrastructure (AMI) and a regulatory environment that is now
(slowly) becoming more supportive. It is our view that the space will see healthy
double-digit growth over the next few years, and we believe a leader such as Itron
has the ability to take share and improve its global position. However, with its
international (2/3 of revs.) outlook experiencing some lingering softness and
utilities still moving slowly (with decisions or deployments), we view the current
valuation as appropriate. Consequently, we are launching coverage at Hold and
would be more constructive on pull-backs or through improved visibility that would
allow us to increase estimates.
Utilities Markets Provide Strong Secular Growth Opportunities
Automation and Smart Grid efforts have finally moved to the forefront of utilities’
agendas while the decision processes at state regulators are (slowly) improving.
This creates a fertile environment for all AMI players where adoption is showing
better economics and acceptance.
Operating Margins Poised To Expand
With a leaner model, revenue momentum through a strong backlog, and higher
tech mix, we expect to see notable Op. margin expansion in next 12-18 months.
Strong Global Share & Presence
An Investment Analysis by Needham & Company, LLC 5
6. Itron is the leading global provider of meter solutions, with either #1 or #2 share
positions in each application and a presence at customers in 130 different
countries.
Comprehensive & Holistic Product Approach
Itron's portfolio approach can help to simplify the process for the risk-averse
utilities in a couple of ways: (1) vendor/supplier management and (2) utilizing a
solution with components explicitly designed to work together.
Clean Technology: Environmental Sciences and
Services (01/05/10)
While we are now into the second quarter of the recovery and we remain
optimistic for 2010 expecting GDP growth in the range of 3.5-4.0%. As has been
well publicized, most companies will benefit from a significant degree of operating
leverage once the revenue line begins to expand. In our sector we have
highlighted Clean Harbors (CLH) as one of our best ideas for 2010 as we think it
will be major beneficiary of an economic rebound in the upcoming year.
Clean Harbors (CLH, Buy)
We continue to recommend purchase of CLH believing that 2010 will be a strong
recovery year benefitting from the economic recovery especially in the chemical
and refining industries both of which have impacted results significantly over the
past year. We continue to highlight that due to its strong industry position and
solid cash flow characteristics, CLH has performed reasonably well in a weak
economic environment. Also with the acquisition of Eveready completed, CLH has
expanded its revenue base by over 50% further strengthening its product offerings
and geographic reach. Pricing appears to be hold up well in landfill and
incineration and the incineration utilization rates are close to 90%. Also CLH has
been active in reducing its overheard expenses targeting a $20mm of cost
synergies from the integration of Eveready in 2009 and another $20-$25mm in
additional expense reduction in 2010. Following the acquisition, the company has
$220mm of cash and debt of $299mm with capital expenditures expected to
remain below depreciation levels. Following a disappointing 2009, we expect
revenue to expand 34% (due in large part to the Eveready acquisition in for the full
year) and EPS to increase from $1.83 in 2009 to $2.61 in 2010.
Clean Harbors is a leading provider of environmental services and operator of
non-nuclear hazardous waste treatment facilities in North America and Canada,
offering technical, site and industrial services. The company’s technical services
include collection, transport, treatment and disposal of hazardous and non-
hazardous wastes and physical treatment, resource recovery, fuels blending,
incineration, landfill disposal, wastewater treatment, lab chemical disposal and
explosives management services. We value CLH on an EBITDA basis; and the
stock is currently at a 7.0X multiple of 2010 EV/EBITDA. We view this at the low
end of the range for the company and have a $70 price target on the company.
CLH is entering 2010 with good visibility, a solid long-term market position, and
underlying fundamentals that are very solid. With the economy slated for healthy
growth in 2010, we believe the outlook remains very positive for CLH.
6 An Investment Analysis by Needham & Company, LLC
7. DOE Watch – From Regulator to Rainmaker
With approximately $40 billion at its disposal for clean technology funding, the
DOE has become the most powerful and important clean technology investor,
expanding its regulatory role to include that of rainmaker, through a steady shower
of government funds.
Out of the $32.7 billion available to the DOE through the American Reinvestment
and Recovery Act (ARRA), the DOE has awarded $21.8 billion and spent $1.7
billion, according to the DOE.
Figure 3: DOE Funds Awarded & Currently Available Under ARRA as of 12/25/09
(Billions) Spent
Scientific
Research Advanced $1.7
$1.6 Research
Carbon Capture/ Projects Agency
Storage $0.4
Still
$3.4
Loan Guarantee Available
Program Energy $9.2 $32.7 Billion
$4.0 Efficiency &
Renewable
Excludes $4 Awarded
Smart Grid &
Energy Billion Loan $21.8
$16.8 Guarantee
Efficient
Electrical Program
Transmission
$4.5 Cold War
Nuclear Clean Total: $36.7 Billion
Up
$6.0
Source: DOE, Needham & Company, LLC.
The DOE announced a series of awards in December, highlighted by $979 million
for carbon capture and sequestration (CCS), $564 million to fund 19 biorefineries
and $60 million for the interconnection of the national smart grid.
Figure 4: Significant DOE Investments, Grants and Loans Announced in December
Amount
Date Program Recipient(s) (MM) Description
- American Electric Power Company Accelerate the development of advanced coal
- Southern Company technologies with carbon capture and storage at
4-Dec Clean Coal Power Initiative Round III - Summit Texas Clean Energy $979 commercial-scale
Accelerate the construction and operation of 19 pilot,
demonstration, and commercial scale biorefinery
4-Dec Advanced Biorefinery Projects 19 biorefineries $564 facilities
- Electrofuels
- Innovative Materials & Processes for
Advanced Carbon Capture Technologies
- Batteries for Electrical Energy Storage The DOE Annouced a second funding round for
7-Dec ARPA-E in Transportation $100 ARPA-E for three funding opportunities
Build an activated carbon manufacturing facility near
9-Dec Loan Guarantee Program Red River Environmental Products, LLC $245 Coushatta, Red River Parish, Louisiana
Promote collaborative long-term analysis and
planning for the Eastern, Western and Texas
Smart Grid - electricity interconnections, which will help states,
Resource Assesment & - Eastern Interconnection: $30MM utilities, grid operators, and others prepare for future
Interconnection-Level Transmission - Western Interconnection: $26.5MM growth in energy demand, renewable energy
18-Dec Analysis & Planning - Texas Interconnection: $3.5MM $60 sources, and smart grid technologies.
- Fuel from Sunlight Hub
- Modeling & Simulation for Nuclear Reactors
22-Dec Enegry Innovation Hubs Three DOE research Hubs $366 - Energy Efficient Building Systems Design
Source: DOE, Needham & Company, LLC.
An Investment Analysis by Needham & Company, LLC 7
8. Carbon Capture & Sequestration Award – 12/04/09
The $979 million in funding for CCS will be in addition to $2.2 billion of capital from
the three projects’ stakeholders, including American Electric Power (AEP),
Southern Company, Summit Texas Clean Energy and partners. The project aims
to develop CCS as a deployable technology in eight to ten years, able to achieve
an efficiency capture target of 90%.
The AEP project team includes APCo, Schlumberger Carbon Services, Battelle
Memorial Institute, CONSOL Energy and Alstom. The project is expected to last 10
years and has a DOE contribution of $334MM.
The Southern Company project team includes Mitsubishi Heavy Industries,
Schlumberger Carbon Services, Advanced Resources International, Geological Survey
of Alabama, EPRI; Stanford University, University of Alabama, AJW Group, and
University of Alabama at Birmingham. It is projected to last 11 years and has a DOE
contribution of $295MM.
Figure 5: Participant Breakdown of $979 million in DOE Funding for CCS
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, University of Texas,
Schlumberger Carbon Services, Siemens technology
Advanced Resources
International, EPRI
APCo, Schlumberger
Carbon Services, Battelle
Memorial Institute,
CONSOL Energy, Alstom $350
$334
$295
Southern Company AEP Texas Clean Energy Project
Source: DOE, Company Reports, Needham & Company, LLC.
Red River Awarded DOE Loan Guarantee – 12/09/09
Red River Environmental Products was awarded $245MM under the DOE Loan
Guarantee Program for the construction of an activated carbon manufacturing facility in
Louisiana. This is the fourth loan given out under the program and the second largest,
as shown in figure 6. Approximately $3.2 billion remains available under the program.
We note that Red River is the first non Energy Creation company to receive a loan
under the program. We expect the DOE to continue to focus on carbon mitigation
technologies as legislators take a more dovish stance towards fossil-fuels in the
aftermath of international stalemate in Copenhagen and a stalled federal cap-and-trade
program in the US.
Figure 6: DOE Loan Guarantee Program Recipients (MM)
Beacon Nordic Date Offered Recipient Amount (MM) Use of Funds
Power Windpower Construction of activated carbon
$43 $16 Red River Environmental manufacturing facility near
Solyndra
$535 9-Dec Products, LLC $245 Coushatta, Red River Parish, LA
Support expansion of wind turbine
assembly plant to 1MW in Pocatello,
Available Red River
$3,161 2-Jul Nordic Windpower $16 ID
$245
Support construction of 20MW
flywheel energy storage plant in
2-Jul Beacon Power $43 Stephentown, NY
Construction of commercial-scale
manufacturing plant of its proprietary
20-Mar Solyndra, Inc. $535 solar modules
Source: DOE, Needham & Company, LLC.
8 An Investment Analysis by Needham & Company, LLC
9. Green Gossip – Legislation, Policy and
Developments in the New Energy Era
Expectations were high leading up to the Copenhagen Climate Change
Conference as President Obama announced early in the month that he would
attend the closing in efforts to secure an agreement and as the triad of potential
spoilers (the US, China and India) had already announced their intent to
participate through voluntary carbon cuts. Domestically, things appeared to be
progressing with or without the wishes of Congress as the EPA declared
greenhouse gases a danger to public health, potentially leading to new emissions
regulation and causing the Needham Energy Creation index to rally, led by the
Solar index.
As the Copenhagen Conference drew to a close, greens and the usual myriad of
climate concerned countries, such as Greenland and Denmark, deemed it a
failure. We disagree and see the framework, in the form of the 3-page
“Copenhagen Accord”, as a foundation and as a building block for progress. While
we acknowledge the outcry over the conference’s inability to produce legally
binding GHG reduction targets, we also note that very serious money in the tune
of $30 billion for the period 2010 to 2012 and $100 billion annually by 2020 for a
clean technology fund to assist developing countries is being mobilized and could
act as a follow up catalyst to the various government stimulus packages that are
currently buoying the sector.
Furthermore, a successful conference in our opinion was not necessarily one that
succeeded in efforts to legally bind nations to targets and goals for the purpose of
mitigating the possibility of catastrophic climate change, as many investors and
scientists are not convinced that climate change is man-made, but one that’s
results produced the generation of some sort of clean technology fund to further
support the energy infrastructure transformation currently taking place. We believe
the conference was successful in doing so and will be tracking the development
related to these funds.
Developed countries’ insistence on conditionality attached to these funds should
make sure the funds aren’t seen as retribution or aid for developing countries, but
instead are used for clean technology development and to fight deforestation.
While we do not see these funds as a near-term catalyst, we believe it could act
as an important long-term growth driver for the overall sector.
Progress on establishing a price on carbon was nascent and hopes for
implementing a global cap-and-trade program or anything legally binding was
shot; however, a framework for establishing both was put into place if and when
the US and other countries choose to implement it at home first. This is a prospect
we doubt will take hold prior to next year’s Climate Change Conference in Mexico
City. Senior Democrats in carbon-intensive and agriculture-focused states such as
Indiana, North Dakota, Louisiana and Nebraska are concerned about the effects it
could have on jobs and other Democratic Senators are hesitant to support what is
essentially a tax ahead of midterm elections in the wake of economic uncertainty
and stubbornly high unemployment. While we are still optimistic for an energy
reform bill in 2010, we believe that if cap-and-trade is to be a part of that bill it is
likely to be held off until at least 2011. But then of course if there is a Democratic
mid-term drubbing, cap-and-trade might not be so easy to push through in its
aftermath.
An Investment Analysis by Needham & Company, LLC 9
10. Investment & Market Activity
Venture Capital & Private Equity
Investor appetite for clean tech investment remains robust, highlighted by the
continued influx of venture capital and private equity investment. In 2009, world
wide PE & VC investment was $11.655 billion, down 18% from the highs of 2008
but up 72% from 2007. Energy Creation continues to attract the lion’s share of
private investment; however, investment opportunities arising from stimulus
spending directed at the smart grid is spurring interest in Energy Efficiency while
expectations for emission-related legislation is buoying investment in
Environmental Sciences & Services, as shown in figure 7.
Figure 7: World Wide PE & VC Investment in Clean Tech – 1999 to 2009
$ 16,000
(MM's)
$ 14,000
$ 12,000 Environmental Science & Services
$ 10,000 Energy Efficiency
$ 8,000 Energy Creation
$ 6,000
$ 4,000
$ 2,000
$ -
00
99
01
02
03
06
04
05
07
08
09
19
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
Source: Cleantech Group, Needham & Company, LLC.
Clean tech financing activity in December was highlighted by Hudson Clean
Energy Partners closing its first fund, which is over $1 billion. The fund will invest
in late stage energy creation and energy efficiency technologies in the range of
$50 million to $150 million on average per transaction. The firm was founded in
2007 and is led by John Cavalier and Neil Auerbach.
Mergers & Acquisitions
The clean tech industry has seen a steady rise of M&A activity over the past few
years reflective of the industry’s growth and as shown in figure 8 below. Activity
has increased as a growing number of players, previously unrelated to clean
technology, have made acquisitions to gain exposure to the space.
December saw a number of companies enter the clean technology space via
acquisition including Panasonic and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.
(TSMC) through Sanyo and Motech, respectively.
We expect this trend to continue and expect an influx of new players to continue to
enter the space via acquisitions, such as defense and telecom companies, based
largely on opportunities presented by the smart grid.
10 An Investment Analysis by Needham & Company, LLC
11. Figure 8: World Wide Clean Tech M&A Activity - 2005 to 2009
Environmental Sciences & 455 total
Services
94
Energy Efficiency 361 total
313 total
87 94
Energy Creation 257 total
100
70 86
66
43
111 total 267
35 188
20 147 144
56
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Source: Cleantech Group, Needham & Company, LLC.
December 2009 saw 44 M&A announcements; a decrease of four deals from
November, and nine less than December 2008.
Energy Creation saw the bulk of deal activity in December 2009, in-line
historically, with 25 transactions. Of those transactions, seven were biofuel, eight
were solar and five were wind.
Figure 9: World Wide Clean Tech M&A Activity – December 2009, Y/Y & M/M
36
Dec-08 Nov 09 Dec 09
27
25
11 11
10 10
8
7
Energy Creation Energy Efficiency Environmental Sciences &
Services
Source: Cleantech Group, Needham & Company, LLC.
Selected Clean Tech M&A in December
A few noteworthy transactions in our opinion are listed below.
Clipper Windpower announced it sold a 49.5% stake to United Technologies on
December 19th. The proceeds are to strengthen the company’s balance sheet,
pursue strategic initiatives and facilitate project financing.
Also, noteworthy in the wind industry was PG&E’s undisclosed acquisition of
Iberdrola’s Manzana Wind Farm, a 246 MW project under development in
California that would be PG&E’s first wind farm. The project will cost
An Investment Analysis by Needham & Company, LLC 11
12. approximately $900 million to develop, which includes payment to Iberdrola.
Iberdrola is developing and building the wind farm while PG&E will own and
operate it. PG&E, along with the other California utilities, are trying to achieve a
33% renewable portfolio standard (RPS) by 2020.
The upstream solar market saw some activity this month with the undisclosed
acquisition of Eversol by MEMC and with TSMC taking a 20% stake in Motech
Industries. The investment marks TSMC’s entrance into the solar market, which
was expected; however, the size of the investment surprised on the upside in light
of TSMC’s board reportedly approving only a $50 million investment in August.
On 12/09/09 EnerNOC acquired the 30-person monitoring-based commissioning
outfit, Cogent, for an undisclosed amount.
Figure 10: Selected Clean Tech M&A – December 2009
Target Buyer Deal Size Date Annouced Subsector
Clipper Windpower United Technologies Corporation $270,000,000 12/9/2009 Wind
Cogent Energy, Inc. EnerNOC Undisclosed 12/9/2009 Smart Grid
Taiwan Semiconductor
Motech Industries Manufacturing Co. $193,000,000 12/10/2009 Solar
246 MW Manzana wind farm -:-
assett of Iberdrola Renewables, Inc. PG&E Undisclosed 12/11/2009 Wind
California Micro Devices ON Semiconductor Corp $108,000,000 12/14/2009 Lighting
Eversol MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc. Undisclosed 12/21/2009 Solar
CO2 Solution, Inc. Codexis, Inc. Undisclosed 12/21/2009 Clean Coal
Total Agroindustria Canavieira S/A Petrobras $84,000,000 12/22/2009 Biofuels
Source: Cleantech Group, Needham & Company, LLC.
IPO Activity
Clean tech IPOs in December rose to 3 from 2 in November. There were no IPOs
during the same month last year.
China Longyuan Power Group, China’s largest wind power producer, raised
approximately $2.26 billion via an initial public offering. The IPO is the third largest
clean tech IPO to date, behind Iberdola’s $6.6 billion IPO in December 2007 and
EDP Renovaveis’s $2.4 billion in June 2008. On 12/31/09 shares of Longyuan
were up 12.4% since it began trading on 12/10/09.
Figure 11: Select Clean Tech M&A Transactions – December 2009
Date Company Ticker Exchange Offer Shares
12/3/2009 China Forestry Holdings Co., Ltd 00930 Hong Kong Futures Exchange $0.27 750,000,000
12/10/2009 China Longyuan Electric Power Group Corp 0916 Hong Kong Futures Exchange $1.06 2,142,860,000
12/16/2009 Pure Klimaschutz 4CT Frankfurt Stock Exchange Undisclosed Undisclosed
Source: Cleantech Group, Needham & Company, LLC.
12 An Investment Analysis by Needham & Company, LLC
13. In 2009, there were 13 clean tech IPOs, according to Cleantech Group. On
average the shares of clean tech companies that went public last year returned
25.8%, driven by the outperformance of China Singyes Solar and Duoyuan Global
Water, Inc.
Figure 12: IPO Performance Year to Date, as of 12/31/09 & IPOs by Needham & Co. Clean Tech Vertical – 2001 to 2009
221%
70
Shares of Cleantech Companies to
Environmental Science &
IPO in 2009 are up an average of Services
60
26%, as of 12/31/09 Energy Efficiency
50
64%
34% Energy Generation
12% 20% 22% 40
5% 5% 11%
-7% -6% 30
-11%
-35%
20
gy
YS
an
z
gs
r
in g
c
c
.
s
d
c
ut
la
rp
In
In
ng
er
In
Lt
yu
in
M
ch
So
cl
Co
gs
En
er
ld
di
s,
on
ng
cy
en
as
at
ol
Ho
em
s
in
gy
isi
10
Lo
Re
an
ye
zh
im
yH
W
o ld
ti v
er
st
ns
di
ng
en
Kl
a
al
al
Sy
s tr
H
En
ul
in
In
ee
Si
Sh
b
et
re
M
Ch
R
lo
re
Gr
23
M
a
Pu
a
ST
G
ro
Fo
m
in
A1
a
Eu
ag
an
Ch
hi n
0
a
in
yu
M
C
Ch
uo
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
D
Source: Cleantech Group, FactSet Needham & Company, LLC.
Figure 13: IPOs by Needham & Co. Clean Tech Vertical – 2001 to 2009
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Energy Generation 0 3 1 1 14 35 26 13 6
Energy Efficiency 0 0 0 2 6 8 15 1 2
Environmental Science &
Services 2 3 0 2 12 15 11 3 5
Total 2 6 1 5 32 58 52 17 13
Source: Cleantech Group, Needham & Company, LLC.
Cancelled or Delayed Clean Tech IPOs
While Longyuan enjoyed a successful IPO in December, Trony Solar, a Chinese
solar module maker, postponed plans for its IPO which was scheduled for
December as well. The delayed Trony IPO comes on the heels of the lackluster
STR Holdings IPO last month. STR Holdings opened trading at $10/share, below
its offering range of $11 to $13, which had already been reduced from $13 to $15.
Upcoming Clean Tech IPOs
We are optimistic for the clean tech IPO market as investor interest for the
upcoming Solyndra IPO appears to be high.
Solyndra, a California based commercial-scale cylindrical thin-film solar company,
filed a registration statement for a $300 million IPO on the Nasdaq. Solyndra
(which would trade under the symbol SOLY) would use the proceeds for the
construction of the company’s manufacturing facility in Fremont. Solyndra could
buck the recent dismal solar IPO trend due to technological differentiation in its
use of mirrors and due to solid financing thus-far that includes $535 million from
the DOE Loan Guarantee Program.
Codexis Inc., a California based cellulosic ethanol company that uses a biocatalyst
process to produce fuel, filed for a $100 million IPO on the Nasdaq. Shell, the
largest advocate of biofuels of the oil majors, owns approximately 20% the
company. Codexis (which would trade under the symbol CDXS), intends to use
the proceeds for working capital and other general purposes as well as to possibly
acquire technologies or companies. The company backed out of previous plans to
go public in September 2008, citing unfavorable market conditions.
An Investment Analysis by Needham & Company, LLC 13
14. Market Performance
The Needham & Co. Energy Efficiency Index rose 8.35% in December,
outperforming the S&P 500, which rose by 1.78%. The Needham & Co. Energy
Creation and Environmental Sciences & Services also outperformed the S&P 500,
both increasing by 5.73% and 3.55%, respectively.
Figure 14: Needham & Co. Clean Tech Vertical Indices – 11/30/09 to 12/31/09
Energy
8.35%
Effic ienc y
Energy Creation 5.73%
Environmental
Sc ienc es & 3.55%
Servic es
S&P 500 1.78%
Source: FactSet, Needham & Company, LLC.
Leading the Needham & Co. subsectors in December were LED, Non-Toxic
Materials and Smart Grid, while Hazardous Waste and Wind lagged, as shown
below in figure 3. A complete listing of the companies comprising each of these
subsectors is detailed at the back of this report.
Figure 15: Needham & Co. Clean Tech Subsector Indices – 11/30/09 to 12/31/09
LED 17.18%
Non-Toxic Materials 14.98%
Smart Grid 13.66%
Energy Storage 11.27%
Solar 10.84%
Material Science 9.27%
Power Semiconductor 7.50%
Infrastructure 6.72%
W ater Filtration 4.87%
W ave,
4.00%
Biomass & Geothermal
Biofuels 3.10%
Air Pollution Control 1.86%
S&P 500 1.78%
Alternative Vehicle 1.12%
W ind 0.93%
Hazardous W aste Services 0.08%
Source: FactSet, Needham & Company, LLC.
14 An Investment Analysis by Needham & Company, LLC
15. Energy Creation
The Needham & Co. Energy Creation Index rose 5.73% in November versus the
S&P 500 which increased 1.78%.
Figure 16: Needham & Co. Energy Creation Subsector Indices – 11/30/09 to 12/31/09
Solar 10.84%
W ave,
Biomass & 4.00%
Geothermal
Biofuels 3.10%
W ind 0.93%
Source: FactSet, Needham & Company, LLC.
The Needham & Co. Solar Index which is comprised of 46 companies, led the
Energy Creation Index advancing 10.84%. The index returned an average 14% in
December, led by Amtech Systems and JA Solar, which increased 85.1% and
46.5%, respectively.
BTU International (Buy rated) rose 39% as the company, which supplies
advanced thermal processing equipment to the alternative energy and electronics
markets, is well positioned for improvement in solar equipment orders. The
company has introduced several new products and we would expect increased
traction in the thin film area by the 2H of 2010. The company's stock price is well
supported by a book value of $4.30 per share and net cash of $1.71 per share.
Akeena Solar (Hold rated) was up 30% in December due to its mid-month
announcement of selling its Andalay AC panels through 21 Lowe's home-
improvement centers in California. This represents a new distribution channel for
Akeena. The AC panels have built-in inverters that produce AC power, so there is
no DC wiring required for installation. Built-in inverters offer the advantage of
generating more energy output especially in partially shaded conditions.
An Investment Analysis by Needham & Company, LLC 15
16. Figure 17: Needham & Co. Solar Index – 11/30/09 to 12/31/09
A mtech Systems Inc. 85.1%
JA Solar Holdings Co. Ltd. (A DS) 46.5%
Spire Corp. 40.3%
BTU International Inc. 38.9%
Solartech Energy Corp. 33.0%
Topco Scientif ic Co. Ltd. 32.3%
Canadian Solar Inc. 30.9%
A keena Solar Inc. 30.2%
Neo Solar Pow er Corp. 25.9%
Hoku Scientif ic Inc. 23.6%
Sunw ays A G 22.5%
A scent Solar Technologies Inc. 19.1%
EMCORE Corp. 18.9%
ReneSola Ltd (A DS) 18.7%
STR Holdings Inc. 18.1%
GT Solar International Inc. 17.1%
China Sunergy Co. Ltd. (A DS) 16.7%
Trina Solar Ltd. (A DS) 15.9%
Solarf un Pow er Holdings Co. Ltd. (A DS) 15.8%
SunPow er Corp. (Cl A ) 14.6%
First Solar Inc. 13.7%
A pplied Materials Inc. 13.2%
MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. 13.1%
Roth & Rau A G 12.1%
Wacker Chemie A G 11.4%
Y ingli Green Energy Holding Co. Ltd. (A DS) 11.3%
Suntech Pow er Holdings Co. Ltd. (A DS) 11.2%
DayStar Technologies Inc. 10.9%
Q-Cells S.E. 9.1%
T he 46
Evergreen Solar Inc. 7.9%
companies in
Energy Conversion Devices Inc. 6.6%
the Needham &
Real Goods Solar Inc. 5.6%
3.6%
Co. Solar Index
centrotherm photovoltaics A G
Gintech Energy Corp. 3.1%
Returned an
Solar-Fabrik A G 2.1%
average of 14%
Solon SE 2.0%
in December
SolarWorld A G 1.7%
aleo solar A G -0.5%
E-Ton Solar Tech. Co. Ltd. -0.6%
PV Crystalox Solar PLC -2.9%
Green Energy Technology Inc. -3.4%
Websol Energy Systems Ltd. -5.4%
Premier Pow er Renew able Energy Inc. -8.3%
Conergy A G -9.6%
LDK Solar Co. Ltd. (A DS) -10.1%
Solar Pow er Inc.-12.1%
Source: FactSet, Needham & Company, LLC.
16 An Investment Analysis by Needham & Company, LLC
17. The Needham & Co. Wind Index, which is comprised of 20 companies, lagged
the Energy Creation Index advancing 0.93%%. The index returned an average
3.0% in December, led by American Superconductor and Clipper Windpower,
which increased 23.2% and 21.1%, respectively.
Figure 18: Needham & Co. Wind Index – 11/30/09 to 12/31/09
American Superconductor Corp. 23.2%
Clipper Windpow er PLC 21.1%
Catch the Wind Inc. 16.4%
Suzlon Energy Ltd. 15.2%
NEPC India Ltd. 13.4%
REpow er Systems AG 13.3%
Broadw ind Energy Inc. 13.1%
MagneTek Inc. 11.6%
A BB Ltd. 8.4%
A-Pow er Energy Generation Systems Ltd. 6.6%
A cciona S.A. 6.5%
Kaydon Corp. 0.6%
Energy Composites Corp. 0.2%
Nordex A G -1.0%
Xinjiang Goldw ind Science & Technology Co. Ltd. -2.7%
Gamesa Corporacion Tecnologica S.A . -7.2%
V estas Wind Systems A /S -8.9%
A AER Inc. -19.2%
GC China Turbine Corp. -24.4%
Composite Technology Corp. -26.4%
Source: FactSet, Needham & Company, LLC.
An Investment Analysis by Needham & Company, LLC 17
18. Shares of American Superconductor have been driven higher by favorable
developments in both its wind and superconducting wire businesses. In addition,
in early December, management reiterated revenue and earnings guidance for the
current year ending March and for the out-year. In its fast-growing wind power
business, which represents over three-quarters of its revenues, AMSC continues
to benefit from strong near-term growth drivers, notably the continued strong
investment by Chinese wind turbine manufacturers, and longer term by potential
new growth opportunities in the fast-growing off-share wind power market. We
expect business to remain strong with AMSC's largest customer, Sinovel, the
number one wind turbine manufacturer in China, continues to ramp production at
the same time that the company's other wind turbine manufacturers in China,
notably Dongfang and CSR Zelri, scale up production.
AMSC has an active new product pipeline, including the next-generation
PMW4000W for its new wind turbine designs and a new solar farm grid
interconnection product. The company is also working on a 10MW offshore high-
temperature superconductor (HTS)-based wind turbine called SeaTitan. While it's
still a few years out, SeaTitan will follow a similar model that AMSC executed with
its core electrical components in its current portfolio of wind turbines, namely
license the HTS wind turbine design, then sell the HTS wire and electrical
components, but with the potential for $1M of total content versus $60,000-
$80,000 for its current wind turbine designs. AMSC believes the addressable
market for SeaTitan could be as large as $1B by 2016.
AMSC's shares have also gotten some lift from developments around the
proposed Tres Amigas power hub in New Mexico, which will link three power grids
in the U.S. and Canada and will incorporate the company's superconducting wire.
Tres Amigas in December submitted filings with the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission (FERC) to move forward with the project, in which AMSC has a
minority equity interest. As this project moves forward, we believe it will represent
another important validation of the company's superconductor technology.
Elsewhere in the wind sector, A-Power Energy Generation Systems, Ltd., which
provides distributed power generation systems in China and manufactures wind
turbines, last month announced that Shenyang Power Group (SPG), together
with affiliates of U.S. Renewable Energy Group (US-REG) and Cielo Wind
Power, LP ("Cielo Wind"), have entered into a definitive agreement for their
ownership of a project company to develop a 600 MW wind farm in Texas. A-
Power has been designated to supply wind turbines to this project.
General Electric Co. in early December announced a $1.4 billion contract from
Caithness Energy to supply its 2.5xl wind turbines and related services for the
massive 845 MW Shepherds Flat wind farm project in Oregon, which is expected
to be the largest ever. Construction is scheduled to start next year and is expected
to be finished in 2012. GE will also supply 10 years of operational and
maintenance services. The Shepherds Flat wind farm will supply renewable
energy to Southern California Edison.
Also in December, Danish blade manufacturer LM Glasfiber announced a five-
year supply contract for a minimum of 1,500 MW with Samsung, a new entrant to
the wind power market which plans to launch a new line of 2.5MW wind turbines.
The government of Brazil announced it would contract 1.8GW of wind capacity,
coming from 71 wind farms over a 20-year period.
18 An Investment Analysis by Needham & Company, LLC
19. Energy Efficiency
The Needham & Co. Energy Efficiency Index rose 8.35% in December versus
the S&P 500 which increased 1.78%. The Needham & Co. LED index, which is
comprised of 7 companies, led the Energy Efficiency Index, advancing 17.2%
followed by the Smart Grid Index, which is comprised of 12 companies and rose
by 13.7%.
Figure 19: Needham & Co. Energy Efficiency Subsector Indices – 11/30/09 to 12/31/09
LED 17.2%
Smart Grid 13.7%
Energy Storage 11.3%
Power
7.5%
Semiconductor
Infrastructure 6.7%
Alternative
1.1%
Vehicle
Source: FactSet, Needham & Company, LLC.
The companies comprising the LED index (market cap weighted) returned an
average 17.2% in December, propelled by above average gains from Supertex
and Cree, which increased 24.6% and 17.9%, respectively.
Figure 20: Needham & Co. LED Index – 11/30/09 to 12/31/09
Supertex Inc. 24.6%
Cree Inc. 17.9%
Diodes Inc. 16.4%
Universal Display Corp. 15.7%
Orion Energy Systems
9.2%
Inc.
LSI Industries Inc. 8.8%
Nexxus Lighting Inc. -20.9%
Source: FactSet, Needham & Company, LLC.
The companies comprising the Smart Grid index returned an average 3.6% in
December, led by Telvent, MYR Group and EnerNOC, which increased 22.0%,
15.7% and 14.9%, respectively. We note that both Telvent and MYR Group are
service companies, while EnerNOC is a software/ service company. We believe
An Investment Analysis by Needham & Company, LLC 19
20. shares of the service companies are demonstrated stronger momentum during the
month versus the metering companies, which realized sizable gains during mid
2009 (as a result of the federal stimulus announcement followed by rounds of
utility award announcements).
Figure 21: Needham & Co. Smart Grid Index – 11/30/09 to 12/31/09
Telvent GIT S.A . 22.0%
M Y R Gro up Inc. 15.7%
EnerNOC Inc. 14.9%
It ro n Inc. 11.2%
Quant a Services Inc. 11.1%
Co mverg e Inc. 9.3%
ESCO Techno lo g ies Inc. 7.3%
Echelo n Co rp . 4.5%
A mb ient Co rp . -0.7%
Po werSecure Int ernat io nal Inc. -12.6%
Zenerg y Po wer PLC -18.3%
B eaco n Po wer Co rp . -21.5%
Source: FactSet, Needham & Company, LLC.
The Needham & Co. Power Semis Index, which is comprised of 18 companies,
advanced 7.5%%, in December. The companies comprising the index returned an
un weighted average of 16.3%, led by California Micro Devices (which was
acquired by On Semiconductor for $4.70 per share) and Cirrus Logic, which
increased 57.0% and 25.6%, respectively. Texas Instruments, the largest in
market cap by approximately 3.5 fold, weighed on the index with a monthly return
of only 3.0%.
Figure 22: Needham & Co. Power Semis Index – 11/30/09 to 12/31/09
C alifo rnia M icro D evices C o rp. 57.0%
C irrus Lo gic Inc. 25.6%
F airchild Sem ico nducto r Internatio nal Inc. 23.3%
A dvanced A nalo gic T echno lo gies Inc. 23.1%
Intersil C o rp. (C l A ) 18.7%
Internatio nal R ectifier C o rp. 18.2%
Vo lterra Sem ico nducto r C o rp. 15.9%
M axim Integrated P ro ducts Inc. 15.5%
IXYS C o rp. 15.1%
M icrel Inc. 14.7%
ON Sem ico nducto r C o rp. 13.7%
Linear T echno lo gy C o rp. 13.3%
M o no lithic P o wer System s Inc. 11.5%
P o wer Integratio ns Inc. 8.2%
Sem tech C o rp. 6.2%
A nalo g D evices Inc. 5.3%
N atio nal Sem ico nducto r C o rp. 5.2%
T exas Instrum ents Inc. 3.0%
Source: FactSet, Needham & Company, LLC.
20 An Investment Analysis by Needham & Company, LLC
21. Environmental Sciences & Services
The Needham & Co. Environmental Sciences & Services Index rose 3.55% in
December versus the S&P 500 which increased 1.78%. The Needham & Co. Non-
Toxic Materials Index, which is comprised of 8 companies, led the Environmental
Sciences & Services Index, advancing 14.98%.
Figure 23: Needham & Co. Environmental Sciences & Services Subsector Indices –
11/30/09 to 12/31/09
Non-Toxic
14.98%
Materials
Material Science 9.27%
Water Filtration 4.87%
Air Pollution
1.86%
Control
Hazardous
0.08%
Was te Services
Source: FactSet, Needham & Company, LLC.
Headwaters and Hexcel led the Index increasing, increasing 38.4% and 23.0%,
respectively.
Figure 24: Needham & Co. Non-Toxic Materials Index – 11/30/09 to 12/31/09
Headw aters Inc. 38.4%
Hexcel Corp. 23.0%
KHD Humboldt Wedag 17.5%
Kadant Inc. 10.7%
Zoltek Cos. 5.8%
Landec Corp. -0.6%
Tennant Co. -3.8%
Source: FactSet, Needham & Company, LLC.
An Investment Analysis by Needham & Company, LLC 21
22. Figure 25: Needham & Company, LLC’s Clean Technology Universe
Closing Shares Market
12 Mo. Price 52-Week Out. Cap.
COMPANY (Disclosures) Subsector Symbol Rating 01/06/10 High Low (mil.) (mil.) Analyst
Energy Creation
Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. (B, D, E, G, J) Solar Industry AEIS Buy $16.66 $16.82 $5.36 43 700 Mok
Akeena Solar Inc. (B, G) Solar Industry AKNS Hold 1.41 2.61 0.58 28 49 Kundtz
American Superconductor Corp. (B, G, J1) Wind Power & Grid Products AMSC Buy 42.87 43.50 11.66 43 1,891 Ricchiuti
Applied Materials, Inc. (B, G) Solar Mfg. Equipment AMAT Hold 14.16 14.57 8.19 1,333 18,987 Mok
BTU International, Inc. (B, G, J1) Solar Mfg. Equipment BTUI Buy 6.26 8.30 2.66 9 58 Kundtz
JA Solar Holdings Co. Ltd. (B, G) Solar PV Technology JASO Buy 6.80 6.95 1.77 169 1,142 Mok
LDK Solar Co. Ltd. (B) Solar PV Technology LDK Hold 7.95 16.47 3.75 109 900 Mok
MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc. (B) Solar PV Technology WFR Hold 14.61 21.36 11.32 229 3,121 Mok
Solar Power Inc. (B, E) Solar Industry SOPW Buy 1.24 1.90 0.42 38 62 Kundtz
SunPower Corp. (B, E, G) Solar PV Technology SPWRA Buy 25.77 44.46 19.70 84 2,497 Mok
Energy Efficiency
Echelon Corporation (B, G) Smart Grid ELON Buy $11.97 $15.38 $5.13 41 491 Hannan
ESCO Technologies, Inc. (B) Smart Grid ESE Buy 35.16 46.87 29.04 27 929 Hannan
Fuel Systems Solutions, Inc. (B, D, G, J) Alternative Energy FSYS Buy 48.01 52.53 9.83 16 844 Kundtz
Itron, Inc. (B, G) Smart Grid ITRI Hold 71.92 72.20 40.10 35 2,886 Hannan
IXYS Corporation (B, G) Analog/Mixed Signal IXYS Buy 6.95 11.00 5.61 31 216 Essi, Jr.
LSI Industries (B, E, G) LED Lighting LYTS Buy 8.11 8.48 2.75 22 195 Ricchiuti
Maxwell Technologies Inc. (B, E, G) Alternative Energy MXWL Buy 18.13 21.81 4.50 21 472 Kundtz
Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. (B, G) Analog/Mixed Signal MPWR Buy 23.10 25.26 10.67 36 805 Essi, Jr.
ON Semiconductor Corporation (B, D, E, G, J) Analog/Mixed Signal ONNN Restricted 8.90 9.12 3.17 379 3,783 Essi, Jr.
Power Integrations Inc. (B, G, J1) Analog/Mixed Signal POWI Hold 36.02 37.15 16.75 32 971 Essi, Jr.
Supertex, Inc. (B, G) Analog/Mixed Signal SUPX Hold 28.19 32.98 18.43 13 364 Essi, Jr.
Ultralife Corporation (B, G, J1) Alternative Energy ULBI Buy 4.28 14.15 3.42 18 73 Kundtz
Universal Display Corporation (B, G, J1) OLED Lighting PANL Hold 14.17 14.26 5.04 36 520 Ricchiuti
Volterra Semiconductor Corp. (B, G) Analog/Mixed Signal VLTR Hold 18.45 20.17 6.16 25 429 Essi, Jr.
Environmental Sciences & Services
American Ecology Corp. (B, G) Hazardous Waste ECOL Hold $17.25 $21.21 $13.56 18 313 Kundtz
Ceco Environmental Corp. (B, G) Air Pollution Control CECE Buy 3.96 4.51 1.80 15 57 Kundtz
Ceradyne, Inc. (B, G, J1) Diversified Technology CRDN Hold 19.35 25.07 14.27 27 497 Ricchiuti
Clean Harbors Inc. (B) Hazardous Waste CLH Buy 61.05 65.18 40.90 23 1,600 Kundtz
Fuel Tech Inc. (B, G) Air Pollution Control FTEK Hold 8.10 14.15 7.01 25 196 Kundtz
Heritage-Crystal Clean Inc. (B, G) Hazardous Waste HCCI Hold 11.01 13.80 6.50 11 118 Kundtz
PMFG, Inc. (B, D, G, J) Air Pollution Control PMFG Hold 16.60 18.50 3.96 13 220 Kundtz
Tennant Company (B) Industrial Cleaning TNC Hold 26.56 33.37 7.61 19 497 Kundtz
Source: FactSet, Needham & Company, LLC.
22 An Investment Analysis by Needham & Company, LLC