Shares in solar cell makers soared yesterday after oil prices continued breaking records on global markets in the wake of the latest industry figures showing a surprise fall in US crude reserves.
Shares of Motech Industries Inc (
US light crude rose as high as US$96.24 in trading yesterday morning in Asia before falling back to US$96.05.
On average, solar shares grew 0.39 percent yesterday, outperforming a 0.78 percent decline in the over-the-counter GRETAI Securities Market index and a 1.17 percent drop in the benchmark TAIEX index.
The TAIEX yesterday tumbled 113.14 points to 9,598.23 as investors worried that "higher costs could eventually choke economic growth," SinoPac Securities Co (
Shares of Motech also gained support from the release of sales figures for last month.
The company yesterday posted record sales of NT$1.44 billion (US$44.4 million) for last month, up 55 percent from a year ago and a 2 percent increase from September.
For the first 10 months, the company's revenues jumped 111.2 percent year-on-year to NT$12.55 billion, the company's figures showed.
Last week, Motech disappointed investors as it reported that its gross margin had fallen to 17.5 percent in the third quarter -- from 18.5 percent in the second quarter and more than 20 percent in the first quarter -- owing to rising raw materials prices caused by a persistent shortage.
Motech president Simon Tsuo (
Rival E-ton also saw its third-quarter gross margin edge down to 13.63 percent, the lowest since the company started trading its shares on the GRETAI Securities Market in March last year.
E-ton said its fourth-quarter margin would improve after it began to get silicon wafer supplies from Adema Technologies last month.
E-ton had acquired Adema Technologies, a US-based manufacturer of solar power parts, in June.
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