Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: SunPower, MetLife, CRA International, FTI Consulting and LECG Corporation

Zacks.com Analyst Blog features: SunPower Corp. (Nasdaq: SPWRA), MetLife Inc. (NYSE: MET), CRA International Inc (Nasdaq: CRAI), FTI Consulting Inc. (NYSE: FCN) and LECG Corporation (Nasdaq: XPRT).

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Here are highlights from Monday’s Analyst Blog:

SunPower Corp. (Nasdaq: SPWRA) recently completed the sale of its 44 megawatt Montalto di Castro solar park to a consortium of international investors that include MetLife Inc. (NYSE: MET), Fondo PPP Italia and Voigt & Collegen.

The Montalto di Castro solar park, located in the Lazio region of Italy near Rome, was designed and built by SunPower. The company said it will continue to provide ongoing operations and maintenance services to the new owners.

With the completion and sale of this 44 megawatt (MW) power plant, SunPower has met the goal of developing, constructing and monetizing 72 megawatts from the Montalto di Castro solar park.

SunPower constructed the Montalto di Castro solar park in four phases. The plant’s first 20-MW phase was connected to the grid in November 2009, several weeks ahead of schedule. The 8-MW second phase was commissioned earlier this fall, and the third and fourth phases, of the plant totaling 44 MW, were completed earlier this month. SunPower financed the development and construction of the third and fourth phases with proceeds from the solar industry's first-of-its-kind solar bond.

Headquartered in San Jose, California, SunPower designs, develops, manufactures, markets and sells high-performance solar electric power technology products, systems and services worldwide for residential, commercial and utility-scale power plant customers. The company’s semiconductor-based solar cells and solar panels, which convert sunlight into electricity, are manufactured using proprietary processes and technologies.

SunPower's customer base is spread across North America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australia. The company is proactive in entering new markets. By the end of fiscal 2011, the company expects its global dealer network to almost double to around 2,000 dealers.

SunPower currently has a short term Zacks #3 Rank (Hold). We maintain our Neutral recommendation on SunPower shares.

A leading global consulting firm CRA International Inc (Nasdaq: CRAI) recently announced that it is changing its accounting year end from November 30 to December 31, effective 2011. The new accounting year will begin from January 2, 2011 and end on December 31, 2011.

Under the new reporting year, all the four quarters will be for 13 weeks whereas previously, the first, second and fourth quarters comprised 12 weeks each and third quarter was a 16-week period. The third quarter period will now be shortened by three weeks.

Additionally, due to the change in the fiscal year-end, the Boston, Massachusetts-based company will report a five-week transition period from November 28, 2010 to January 1, 2011. The company is scheduled to report its fourth quarter results in mid-January 2011.

CRA International, formerly Charles River Associates said that the new accounting year change will make its comparison, on both a quarterly and annual basis, between its industry peers like FTI Consulting Inc. (NYSE: FCN) and LECG Corporation (Nasdaq: XPRT) easier and consistent.

During the third quarter, CRA International reported third quarter earnings of 30 cents, in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate, primarily owing to the uptick in utilization rate backed by successful restructuring actions.

Moreover, business conditions have started to improve with healthy new business lead flow, improved conversion rate and active pipeline of both litigation and management consulting businesses.

Going forward, we believe the company’s growth initiatives, improving international operations, new business wins and solid cash balance will help it to generate positive results.

However, we remain cautious on the stock as positive impacts will likely be marred by clients hesitant to spend aggressively on major consulting projects, given the current market volatility. The company’s growth can also be hindered by a continuous decline in organic revenues. We prefer to remain on the sidelines as overall visibility remains hazy and thereby maintain our long-term Neutral recommendation on the stock.

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