JinkoSolar, BioNTech and First Phosphate with important updates: This is what moves the shares

First Phosphate: Newsflow can drive the share price

The US government will strongly promote domestic battery production. As a supplier of an important raw material, First Phosphate will benefit from this. In Quebec, Canada (Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean region), the Company owns over 15 areas totalling 1,500 sq km with very distinct phosphate deposits, ranging from exploration sites to PEA development projects. According to the Company, it is pure magmatic anorthosite phosphate rock. Using advanced phosphate processing technology from partner Prayon, it is expected to process about 90% of phosphate concentrate production into ESG-compliant products.

A few days ago, a major update on company development was published. First Phosphate's shares have only been listed on the stock exchanges in Canada and Germany since the first quarter of 2023. In addition, around CAD 2.3 million was raised through a capital increase, of which around 20% came from management. Financing is thus secured and investors can look forward to a lively news flow in the further course of the year. The final results of the drilling program carried out at the end of 2022 are to be published. Drilling is then scheduled to start again in the summer. In a pilot project, First Phosphate is working with its partner SGS Quebec on separating apatite, ilmenite and magnetite. If it succeeds in marketing three minerals at the same time in the future, this could enable significantly higher margins. Another pilot project is underway with Prayon. Based on the phosphate concentrate already mined, purified phosphoric acid will be produced in battery quality so that future customers from North America can convince themselves of the product quality.

JinkoSolar: Trouble in the US

JinkoSolar has a vertically integrated value chain: from silicon ingots, wafers and cells to modules. The Chinese photovoltaic group has recently published several announcements. Among other things, it was announced that the 56% share in Xinjiang Jinko Solar Co. will be sold. Jinko will receive around USD 622 million for this. The buyer is said to be a consortium around a fund close to the government. Xinjiang had made a profit of USD 22 million in 2022. In the first quarter of 2023, the profit was already around USD 20 million. With the sale, Jinko wants to increase production efficiency and optimize the plant mix.

A cooperation with Antaisolar is expected to contribute to the group's further growth. Antaisolar specializes in mounting systems for photovoltaic plants. Both companies have implemented several joint projects in different countries since last year. Therefore, they now want to cooperate more closely worldwide. The strategic cooperation agreement provides for the exchange of projects, technologies, employees and other areas.

In order to consolidate its position as the world's largest photovoltaic group, Jinko is also expanding its locations. A major new investment program has been approved. It provides for the construction of a new site for silicon wafers, solar cells and solar modules in the Chinese province of Shanxi. An annual production capacity of 56 GW is to be built in four expansion stages. Jinko wants to invest around USD 8 billion in this.

But there was not only positive news to report. According to US media, federal officials raided a JinkoSolar site in the United States. It is not yet known exactly why. However, government subsidy programs were put on hold for the time being. Actually, Jinko wants to expand the site significantly in order to profit from the solar boom in the US. The crackdown can be seen as part of the tensions between China and the US. Again and again, there are small pinpricks such as selective trade restrictions, tariffs and the like. This may also contribute to the fact that JinkoSolar's share price has practically halved since July 2022, while the solar industry as a whole has performed positively. For example, the share price of SMA Solar, the German manufacturer of inverters, has risen by over 50% in the current year alone.

BioNTech: EU reduces order

Now we are changing sectors because something is also happening at the German biotech company BioNTech. The EU will buy less Corona vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech than originally planned. According to Reuters, all parties involved have reportedly agreed to this. Given the current Corona situation, this is not surprising, but it is nevertheless likely to put further pressure on the BioNTech share, which is already struggling. After all, the vaccine is the Mainz-based company's major source of revenue. The product pipeline is full, and so is the cash register, but the share price continues to be determined by Corona news. Previously, a new variant in China led to a slight rebound in the share price. The World Health Organization has recommended updating vaccination protection against the Corona variant XBB.1.5, for example, with a monovalent vaccine. BioNTech then reported that it could quickly adapt the vaccine. In addition, the BioNTech management had explained at the annual general meeting that they were still expecting regular revenues from the Corona vaccine. However, the stock market is not likely to see any significant gains at the moment.

Investors in First Phosphate can look forward to a lively newsflow in the further course of the year. If this is positive, the share should be able to regain its March level of CAD 1 quickly. The share is currently trading below CAD 0.50. At JinkoSolar, the tensions between the US and China are acting as a brake on the share. At BioNTech, there is simply a lack of positive news, such as study results from the pipeline. In addition, the biotech sector is not the focus of investors at the moment.