SunPower Is a Semi - It Deserves to Be Valued Like One

SunPower (SPWR) is on a roll. Revenues for Q2-2008 were $383 Million - up 120% yoy. Guidance for 2009 was excellent, I think that SPWR's management is excellent, and their products are the best in the industry. Until someone comes up with a cheap multi-junction solar cell, SPWR will be the top dog for cell efficiency - a measure of how much of the sun's energy can be converted to electricity. SPWR depends on polysilicon to make their solar cells - in other words, their technology is mainstream - the only differentiator are the dyes used in processing - while that is interesting for a guy who designed chips for a decade and was issued four patents, that is a discussion for another day.

Let me get to the point. SunPower is a semiconductor company. They use semiconductor technology, processing to manufacture their solar cells, and ultimately will be valued like semiconductor companies are. So, let us analyze SPWR like a semiconductor company.