ECD quarterly sales tumble; enters Ontario rooftop solar market

Energy Conversion Devices sales in the latest quarter were $42.9m, down more than 55% from the year-earlier figure as a sluggish construction market hurt its building-integrated thin-film solar business. The company is looking north for more business, inking a partnership in the Ontario, Canada, market.

After reporting fiscal 2010 first quarter earnings, the company’s shares dropped 2.3% in trading on the NASDAQ Monday, closing at $10.93. ECD shares were down a further 2.5% as of midday Tuesday on downgrades by analysts at Citigroup, JPMorgan and Lazard.

The company swung to a loss of $11.8m in the quarter, $0.28 per share – helped by items including sale of previously written-down inventory and the acquisition of Solar Integrated Technologies.