We know that solar stocks have not had a good run lately. While solar power is still attractive—especially for those leery of the power grid’s stability—the price tags, coupled with soaring interest rates, have made the environment less than hospitable. And Maxeon Solar (MAXN) is demonstrating this point well, facing a potential delisting from the Nasdaq exchange. That did nothing positive for share prices, as Maxeon is down over 8% in Thursday afternoon’s trading.
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A look at the one-year chart for Maxeon Solar Technologies will tell the grimmest of tales here. Just a year ago, shares were valued at a little over $16. Today, they are valued at a little over $0.16. In fact, that is the biggest problem for Maxeon: Nasdaq rules require shares to be worth at least $1, and falling below that threshold puts the company at risk of being delisted.
Now, Maxeon has its notice and has until February 10, 2025, to fix this or face a complete removal from the exchange. Given that one of Maxeon’s key customers, SunPower Corp. (SPWRQ), recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and Maxeon has agreed to honor long-term warranties for the panels that SunPower installed, it does not look good.
The New Mexico Dilemma
However, there is a larger problem brewing for Maxeon in New Mexico: Mesa del Sol. It remains hopeful that the project, valued at around $1.9 billion, will finally be able to start construction in the fourth quarter of 2024 after a series of production delays kept pushing the start date back.
Mesa del Sol resembles, at least somewhat, the old company towns of the late 1800s. It features over 10,000 homes surrounding a Maxeon plant that would build upward of seven million solar panels a year. But with the Maxeon plant struggling, Mesa del Sol’s construction and operation looks more and more like a pipe dream.
Is Maxeon Solar Stock a Buy?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Sell consensus rating on MAXN stock based on three Holds and three Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 98.84% loss in its share price over the past year, the average MAXN price target of $0.74 per share implies 318.55% upside potential.
