Stocks regained their footing in early afternoon trading Wednesday. But entrepreneur Elon Musk was having a bad day as his solar panel installation enterprise issued disappointing guidance.
The Nasdaq rose nearly 2%, the S&P 500 rose 1%, and the Dow Jones industrial average was ahead by 0.3%. Volume was running moderately lower in the stock market today, compared to the same time Tuesday.
SolarCity (SCTY) crashed and burned, gapping down 23%. After the close Tuesday, it reported a smaller-than-expected Q4 loss and beat the revenue consensus estimate with a 61% gain to $115.5 million, but its guidance offered deepening losses.
The stock was upgraded to strong buy from outperform by Raymond James, while lowering the price target to 60 from 75. Morgan Stanley analyst Stephen Byrd called the sell-off "significantly overdone" and maintained an overweight rating and a 104 price target.
Solar energy stocks were the worst-performing industry group out of 197, down 5.7%. Other energy industry groups were also weak, even though oil prices were up. West Texas Intermediate was trading at $28.10 a barrel, a 0.6% increase on the day.
Another Elon Musk company, Tesla Motors (TSLA), was flat in Wednesday's trading, but the stock has lost nearly half its value in recent months. It fell 15% in January and is down 9% so far this month. Tesla Motors reports after the close.
Medical and Internet stocks were strong, but most stocks in those sectors were bouncing off lows.
