Solar products makers rise on tax credit optimism

Citi Investment Research analyst Timothy M. Arcuri, writing in a client note, said his "contacts indicate the House Ways and Means Committee is likely to propose a new bill that will extend most of the credits for at least several years -longer than the one-year extension that has been discussed to date. The House is hoping to pass a bill before the Memorial Day recess."

Should a bill materialize later this week, it will still need to be voted on by the full House and sent to the Senate where there is no guarantee that it would pass without meaningful revision, the analyst wrote.

Utilities may not benefit, however, as "there is no active, viable legislation that includes language extending the ITC to utilities."

In morning trading, shares of Energy Conversion Devices Inc. rose $2.08, or 4 percent, to $53.70; SunPower Corp. rose $2.61, or 3.1 percent, to $87.10; Evergreen Solar Inc. rose 11 cents to $8.32; and First Solar Inc. rose $11.02, or 3.9 percent, to $296.