20 favorite alternative-energy stocks with expected upside of up to 102%

By Philip van Doorn

• Invesco Solar ETF /zigman2/quotes/210041821/composite TAN +1.66%

• First Trust Nasdaq Clean Edge Green Energy Index Fund /zigman2/quotes/205893823/composite QCLN +1.44%

• ALPS Clean Energy ETF /zigman2/quotes/204291195/composite ACES +0.26%

• First Trust Nasdaq Clean Edge Smart GRID Infrastructure Index ETF /zigman2/quotes/201178568/composite GRID +1.86%

Click the tickers for more information about each ETF — they follow varied strategies. Click  here  for Tomi Kilgore’s detailed guide to the wealth of information available for free on MarketWatch’s quote page.

3. A shorter-term view

Another way to consider individual alternative-energy stocks is to think shorter-term and look at investment analysts’ ratings. The ratings are generally based on 12-month price targets. One year is a short period for serious long-term investors, but the 12-month price target is a long tradition for analysts that work for brokerage firms and for the financial media.

First, to see just how volatile the alternative-energy industries can be, take a look at this 2021 total-return chart for the Invesco Solar ETF:

And now the two-year chart:

There’s tremendous support for alternative-energy stocks, but also plenty of volatility.

Going back to the five alternative-energy ETFs, if we look at their portfolios and remove duplicates, we have a list of 203 stocks, with 144 covered by at least five analysts polled by FactSet. Among these, 52 are rated “buy” or the equivalent by at least 75% of analysts.

Here are the 20 screened alternative-energy stocks with the highest 12-month upside potential implied by consensus price targets. Share prices and target prices are in local currencies:

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/zigman2/quotes/210041821/composite

Add to watchlist TAN

Invesco Solar ETF

US : U.S.: NYSE Arca

$ 70.56

+1.15 +1.66%

Volume: 553,209

March 20, 2023 4:00p

/zigman2/quotes/205893823/composite

Add to watchlist QCLN

First Trust NASDAQ Clean Edge Green Energy Index Fund

US : U.S.: Nasdaq

$ 48.52

+0.69 +1.44%

Volume: 64,526

March 20, 2023 4:00p

/zigman2/quotes/204291195/composite

Add to watchlist ACES

ALPS Clean Energy ETF

US : U.S.: NYSE Arca

$ 42.99

+0.11 +0.26%

Volume: 26,008

March 20, 2023 4:00p

/zigman2/quotes/201178568/composite

Add to watchlist GRID

First Trust NASDAQ Clean Edge Smart Grid Infrastructure Index Fund

US : U.S.: Nasdaq

$ 92.57

+1.69 +1.86%

Volume: 96,565

March 20, 2023 4:00p

/zigman2/quotes/226387844/composite

Add to watchlist FTCI

FTC Solar Inc.

US : U.S.: Nasdaq

$ 2.02

-0.11 -5.16%

Volume: 1.55M

March 20, 2023 4:00p

P/E Ratio

N/A

Dividend Yield

N/A

Market Cap

$226.20 million

Rev. per Employee

$556,860

/zigman2/quotes/221559284/composite

Add to watchlist LEV

Lion Electric Co.

US : U.S.: NYSE

$ 1.84

-0.10 -4.92%

Volume: 878,365

March 20, 2023 4:00p

P/E Ratio

20.90

Dividend Yield

N/A

Market Cap

$426.59 million

Rev. per Employee

$99,939

/zigman2/quotes/218421281/composite

Add to watchlist ZEV

Lightning eMotors Inc.

US : U.S.: NYSE

$ 0.31

-0.01 -4.66%

Volume: 2.00M

March 20, 2023 4:00p

P/E Ratio

2.06

Dividend Yield

N/A

Market Cap

$30.16 million

Rev. per Employee

$90,755

/zigman2/quotes/206773348/composite

Add to watchlist NIU

Niu Technologies ADR

US : U.S.: Nasdaq

$ 3.62

-0.36 -9.05%

Volume: 1.13M

March 20, 2023 4:00p

P/E Ratio

55.08

Dividend Yield

N/A

Market Cap

$306.98 million

Rev. per Employee

$766,814

/zigman2/quotes/200585653/composite

Add to watchlist AZRE

Azure Power Global Ltd.

US : U.S.: NYSE

$ 1.81

-0.30 -14.22%

Volume: 468,782

March 20, 2023 4:00p

P/E Ratio

N/A

Dividend Yield

N/A

Market Cap

$135.38 million

Rev. per Employee

$504,802

/zigman2/quotes/201045521/composite

Add to watchlist EBR

Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras S/A ADR

US : U.S.: NYSE

$ 6.11

-0.03 -0.57%

Volume: 2.29M

March 20, 2023 4:00p

P/E Ratio

12.92

Dividend Yield

2.09%

Market Cap

$14.19 billion

Rev. per Employee

$682,292

/zigman2/quotes/208210688/delayed

Add to watchlist ES:GRE

Grenergy Renovables S.A.

ES : Spain: Madrid

€ 26.06

-0.64 -2.40%

Volume: 65,396

March 20, 2023 5:38p

P/E Ratio

73.02

Dividend Yield

N/A

Market Cap

€804.29 million

Rev. per Employee

€312,384

/zigman2/quotes/204905836/composite

Add to watchlist NIO

NIO Inc. ADR

US : U.S.: NYSE

$ 8.75

+0.48 +5.87%

Volume: 52.72M

March 20, 2023 4:00p

P/E Ratio

N/A

Dividend Yield

N/A

Market Cap

$14.36 billion

Rev. per Employee

N/A

/zigman2/quotes/201472194/delayed

Add to watchlist XE:NDX1

Nordex SE

XE : Germany: Xetra

€ 13.15

+0.13 +0.96%

Volume: 647,166

March 20, 2023 6:30p

P/E Ratio

N/A

Dividend Yield

N/A

Market Cap

€2.76 billion

Rev. per Employee

€658,351

/zigman2/quotes/202122112/delayed

Add to watchlist KR:112610

CS Wind Corp.

KR : S. Korea: KRX

₩ 70,000.00

-700.00 -0.99%

Volume: 388,601

March 20, 2023 3:30p

P/E Ratio

N/A

Dividend Yield

0.71%

Market Cap

₩2981.52 billion

Rev. per Employee

₩13.35B

/zigman2/quotes/205021014/composite

Add to watchlist RUN

SunRun Inc.

US : U.S.: Nasdaq

$ 17.03

-0.29 -1.67%

Volume: 11.25M

March 20, 2023 4:00p

P/E Ratio

22.22

Dividend Yield

N/A

Market Cap

$3.71 billion

Rev. per Employee

$187,091

/zigman2/quotes/207965492/composite

Add to watchlist MTZ

MasTec Inc.

US : U.S.: NYSE

$ 88.34

+1.25 +1.44%

Volume: 243,303

March 20, 2023 4:00p

P/E Ratio

210.95

Dividend Yield

N/A

Market Cap

$6.86 billion

Rev. per Employee

N/A

/zigman2/quotes/206327009/composite

Add to watchlist DQ

Daqo New Energy Corp. ADR

US : U.S.: NYSE

$ 47.97

+2.29 +5.01%

Volume: 562,720

March 20, 2023 4:00p

P/E Ratio

2.00

Dividend Yield

N/A

Market Cap

$3.43 billion

Rev. per Employee

$1.92M

/zigman2/quotes/209534923/delayed

Add to watchlist CH:MBTN

Meyer Burger Technology AG

CH : Switzerland: SWX

CHF 0.51

-0.0020 -0.39%

Volume: 39.82M

March 20, 2023 5:31p

P/E Ratio

N/A

Dividend Yield

N/A

Market Cap

CHF1.83 billion

Rev. per Employee

CHF99,669

/zigman2/quotes/207568496/delayed

Add to watchlist FR:ENGI

Engie S.A.

FR : France: Euronext Paris

€ 13.57

+0.13 +1.00%

Volume: 7.09M

March 20, 2023 5:39p

P/E Ratio

229.16

Dividend Yield

10.32%

Market Cap

€32.46 billion

Rev. per Employee

€547,401

/zigman2/quotes/203873508/delayed

Add to watchlist HK:3868

Xinyi Energy Holdings Ltd.

HK : Hong Kong

$ 2.32

-0.06 -2.52%

Volume: 6.84M

March 20, 2023 4:08p

P/E Ratio

17.40

Dividend Yield

6.51%

Market Cap

$17.71 billion

Rev. per Employee

$8.24M

/zigman2/quotes/214640156/delayed

Add to watchlist KR:336260

Doosan Fuel Cell Co. Ltd.

KR : S. Korea: KRX

₩ 33,500.00

-450.00 -1.33%

Volume: 383,851

March 20, 2023 3:30p

P/E Ratio

795.90

Dividend Yield

N/A

Market Cap

₩2351.26 billion

Rev. per Employee

N/A

/zigman2/quotes/213414922/composite

Add to watchlist NOVA

Sunnova Energy International Inc.

US : U.S.: NYSE

$ 12.68

-0.25 -1.93%

Volume: 7.20M

March 20, 2023 4:00p

P/E Ratio

N/A

Dividend Yield

N/A

Market Cap

$1.49 billion

Rev. per Employee

$475,439