What do rate cuts, the election mean for solar energy stocks?
Mizuho Americas director of clean energy equity research Maheep Manley joins Julie Hyman and Josh Lipton on Market Domination to discuss what next week's expected interest rate cut and the upcoming presidential election mean for the solar energy sector. “There's a nice transition from interest rates to solar,” Manley says explaining that “we've seen this industry react to any positive news on interest rates” and “we'll continue to see that going forward.” The analyst tells Yahoo Finance that most companies in the solar industry have a high debt-to-capital ratio, so there’s “a lot of upside there” if the Federal Reserve does in fact opt to cut rates. Solar companies “generally tend to do better in a lower interest rate environment,” he adds. Solar stocks came into focus after the presidential debate on Tuesday. A victory for Vice President Kamala Harris in November could “keep the status quo of the Inflation Reduction Act,” which includes tax incentives for clean energy. The analyst highlights that First Solar is “the biggest beneficiary” of current tax incentives as “more than 60% of their EPS in our estimates for 2025 would come from these incentives from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Manley adds, “I don't think it'll be very bad news if Republicans or Trump come on in,” with “at worst” a 20% or 25% impact on solar stocks. For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Market Domination. This post was written by Naomi Buchanan.
