DAQO New Energy (NYSE:DQ) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

DAQO New Energy Corp. (NYSE:DQ)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $16.06, but opened at $17.05. DAQO New Energy shares last traded at $17.0930, with a volume of 421,845 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on DQ. Roth Mkm set a $19.00 price target on shares of DAQO New Energy in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Zacks Research lowered shares of DAQO New Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of DAQO New Energy from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of DAQO New Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, DAQO New Energy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $23.59.

DAQO New Energy Stock Up 5.0%

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $19.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.71. The stock has a market cap of $1.14 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.03 and a beta of 0.61.

DAQO New Energy (NYSE:DQ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The semiconductor company reported ($1.31) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by ($1.18). DAQO New Energy had a negative net margin of 32.92% and a negative return on equity of 3.19%. The firm had revenue of $26.72 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $186.28 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that DAQO New Energy Corp. will post -1.31 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On DAQO New Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Continental General Insurance Co. boosted its holdings in shares of DAQO New Energy by 11.3% during the third quarter. Continental General Insurance Co. now owns 6,641,986 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $186,839,000 after acquiring an additional 675,784 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of DAQO New Energy by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,753,947 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $51,741,000 after acquiring an additional 15,159 shares during the period. Polunin Capital Partners Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of DAQO New Energy by 13.6% during the fourth quarter. Polunin Capital Partners Ltd now owns 1,458,705 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $43,032,000 after acquiring an additional 174,747 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of DAQO New Energy by 22.6% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,429,565 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $42,172,000 after acquiring an additional 263,614 shares during the period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of DAQO New Energy by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,316,140 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $38,934,000 after acquiring an additional 110,186 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.22% of the company’s stock.

About DAQO New Energy

DAQO New Energy Corp. operates as a leading manufacturer of high-purity polysilicon and monocrystalline silicon wafers for the global solar photovoltaic industry. The company focuses on serving module makers and integrated solar producers with critical upstream materials, applying proprietary technologies and optimized processes to achieve high product purity and consistently low production costs. Its core offerings include solar-grade polysilicon—used in the ingot casting and wafer slicing stages—and premium mono-silicon wafers, which are a key input for high-efficiency solar cell production.

Founded in the late 2000s and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2010, DAQO New Energy established its first polysilicon facility in China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.