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SolarEdge U.S. market share to see 'significant hit,' says Vertical Group. Vertical Group analyst Gordon Johnson learned last night via channel checks in Europe that Sunnova has added Huawei's Fusion Home power-optimizer inverters to its approved-vendor-list in the U.S. residential market for 2019. Sunnova is the second largest solar third-party-operator in the U.S., Johnson tells investors in an intraday research note. The analyst believes a number of distributors will imminently add Huawei to their list of residential inverter suppliers beginning in Q1 of 2019. As such, SolarEdge Technologies (SEDG) is about to see a "significant hit" to its U.S. market share, predicts Johnson. He recommends "aggressively adding" to short positions in the stock. The analyst keeps a Sell rating on SolarEdge with a $29 price target. The stock in afternoon trading is down 4%, or $1.56, to $38.28.

SolarEdge 'materially' overpaid for Kokam, says Vertical Group. Vertical Group analyst Gordon Johnson believes Solaredge Technologies is "materially overpaying" for Kokam. The company this morning announced the $88M acquisition of the South Korean provider of lithium-ion battery cells. Kokam is an "also-ran," over-leveraged asset in a "grossly overpopulated industry," Johnson tells investors in a research note. The analyst adds that he fails to understand, "at a very basic level," the justification for the acquisition since the battery industry is "known to be capital intensive." Johnson believes SolarEdge is "losing its foothold as the world's preeminent roof-top inverter supplier" and reiterates a Sell rating on the shares with a $29 price target.

SolarEdge tariff risk already priced into shares, says JPMorgan. JPMorgan analyst Mark Strouse trimmed his near-term estimates for SolarEdge Technologies to reflect the United States Trade Representative's announced Section 301 tariffs. The analyst, however, believes SolarEdge has a relative advantage over some of its competitors which also manufacture in China, creating potential upside to out-year estimates, depending on the duration of the tariffs and how quickly competitors respond. He lowered his price target for the shares to $63 from $66 but believes tariff risk has already been priced into the stock. As such, Strouse keeps an Overweight rating on SolarEdge.