Trina Solar = short?

Interesting blogpost from Bronte Capital describes think process on why would they short Trina Solar. Excerpt:

Red flag number 1: the people at Trina Solar

What originally attracted us to Trina Solar as a short were people. Top of the list was Peter Mak – the head of the Audit Committee of Trina Solar. For those with a lurid sense of voyeurism this is Peter Mak dancing on his (I think 49th) birthday.

Video of Mr. Mak:

Red Flag number 2: matching capital expenditure with capacity

The next problem we had with Trina Solar was that we found it hard to reconcile their capital expenditure with their capacity. The company has been massively expanding their capacity and that would normally take some considerable investment in machines and other infrastructure. There however appears to be little correlation between capacity investment and capacity.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Full blog post: http://brontecapital.blogspot.com/2011/08/trina-solar-somebody-got-luck…

3 Comments
 

This one is all about time horizon. Short-term, it probably declines some more because of lack of demand. Long-term, looking at the P/E and growth, you have to think it's going to do well, especially if traditional energy prices spike like I expect. The company is real as far as I can tell, and you really have to be predicting some crazy stuff to say it's going to zero.

Disclaimer: long TSL (currently about 0.5% of my fund, so it's a small position)

 
Best Response

Qui consequatur sunt repellendus autem delectus sequi. Recusandae ex est commodi libero eligendi laborum enim. Mollitia ipsum rerum dolor officia. Aut et ratione asperiores.

Quia laudantium iste nihil facilis nam repellat eius. Ipsam temporibus maxime pariatur asperiores id.

Debitis optio non nam omnis doloribus quod. Optio id sit quis in. Quos quis eos necessitatibus modi dolores voluptatum. Nam sapiente consectetur quo non sed. Reiciendis iusto libero reiciendis nisi vel modi.

Career Advancement Opportunities

October 2026 Private Equity

  • The Riverside Company 99.6%
  • Blackstone Group 99.3%
  • KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts) 98.9%
  • Warburg Pincus 98.5%
  • Vista Equity Partners 98.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

October 2026 Private Equity

  • Blackstone Group 99.6%
  • KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts) 99.3%
  • The Riverside Company 98.9%
  • Ardian 98.5%
  • Warburg Pincus 98.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

October 2026 Private Equity

  • Bain Capital 99.6%
  • The Riverside Company 99.3%
  • Blackstone Group 98.9%
  • Starwood Capital Group 98.5%
  • KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts) 98.1%

Total Avg Compensation

October 2026 Private Equity

  • Principal (9) $653
  • Director/MD (24) $547
  • Vice President (100) $364
  • 3rd+ Year Associate (106) $280
  • 2nd Year Associate (235) $272
  • 1st Year Associate (414) $231
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (33) $157
  • 2nd Year Analyst (97) $134
  • 1st Year Analyst (273) $126
  • Intern/Summer Associate (39) $80
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (357) $61
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
6
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
9
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
10
Linda Abraham's picture
Linda Abraham
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”