SunPower Declines on Restructuring Charge, Analyst Downgrade

SunPower Corp. (SPWR), the solar-panel company majority-owned by Total SA, fell the most in a week after an announcement of higher-than-anticipated restructuring costs and a downgrade by Credit Agricole Securities.

SunPower fell 6 percent to $7.70 at the close in New York. The shares had gained 10 percent in the last year through Jan. 11.

The solar company, based in San Jose, California, said after the close of trading on Jan. 11 that it expected to record a restructuring charge of $33 million to $40 million, higher than a previously estimated $10 million to $17 million. The “majority” of the charge will be recorded in the fourth quarter, the company said in a filing.

While selling two solar projects to Warren Buffett’s MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co. “adds to revenue visibility, we still don’t see meaningful upside to our forecast,” Mark Heller, an analyst at Credit Agricole Securities in San Francisco, wrote in a note to investors today. Heller downgraded SunPower to sell from underperform.

To contact the reporter on this story: Justin Doom in New York at jdoom1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reed Landberg at landberg@bloomberg.net