Enphase surges as Raymond James raises on recent slide, Europe expansion
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Enphase Energy (NASDAQ:ENPH) +5.8% early Monday after Raymond James upgraded the stock to Outperform from Market Perform with a $225 price target, citing the sharp YTD decline in the shares and the company's expansion in Europe.
Raymond James analyst Pavel Molchanov said he is "trying to catch a proverbial falling knife" in the upgrade, as Enphase (ENPH) shares have slumped 31% YTD and erased all of their peer-leading gains from 2022.
Enphase (ENPH) has done "a phenomenal job" of pushing into Europe, which emerged as the company's leading growth driver in 2022, "and we expect even more of that in the years ahead," Molchanov wrote.
The analyst sees clean tech companies with exposure to Europe helped from "the world's strongest climate policy framework" and the region's pursuit of energy security in the context of Russia's war in Ukraine, noting that Europe lacks the U.S. market's regulatory pitfalls, whether net metering or protectionism.
Enphase Energy (ENPH) posted its lowest close in nine months last Friday, with solar stocks dropping sharply on worries that Silicon Valley Bank's bankruptcy could hurt the clean energy industry.