Suntech's (NYSE: STP) second quarter 2008 earnings came out this morning. And boy were they impressive.

Net income for the quarter came in at $65.2 million, or $0.38 per share. Analysts had predicted earnings of $0.32 per share.

That income is nearly $24 million better than the sum in the same quarter of 2007—a 58% rise!

Revenue was $480.2 million, a full $40 to $50 million better than even Suntech's own estimate.

The solar stalwart raised its third quarter revenue forecast, saying it expects $570 million to $580 million.

Suntech also raised its full-year revenue forecast to a range of $2.05 billion to $2.15 billion, up from an earlier estimate of $1.9 billion to $2.1 billion.

Guidance for shipped panels pointed to solar modules totaling about 550 megawatts of power this year, up from 530 million.

And, according to the AP, "[Suntech's] production capacity increased to 660 megawatts during the quarter — up 120 megawatts over the last three months — and the company plans to reach 1 gigawatt in capacity by the end of the year."

I've talked before about how important reaching the "one gigawatt club" is among solar's top producers. It is truly a symbol of status and of industry dominance.

Suntech said selling price increases, sustained demand, and the strength of the Euro over the dollar were among the reasons for their stellar performance.

Of course, all this is on the heels of ReneSola's (NYSE: SOL) recent announcement of comparable impressive numbers for the quarter.

According to Reuters, ReneSola "quadrupled its second-quarter net income from a year ago, helped by a rising number of customers and strong demand, the company reported on Tuesday. Net income jumped to $23.3 million in the quarter to the end of June from $5.9 million a year ago."

Quadrupled!

Trina (NYSE: TSL:) also had good earnings recently.

Indeed, the solar bull may be back. At the very least, it may be worth picking up a few shares of the companies reporting good earnings while they're still on the cheap.

Remember, solar stocks are down an average of 40% this year—a complete oversold situation if you ask me.  

They have a lot of ground to make up. And a lot higher to go after that!

Call it like you see it,

Nick

PS. I got my Alternative Energy Speculator readers into a few solar plays well before earnings season came around.  Those guys and gals are now sitting on 7 double-digit winners.  If you want this tye of analysis early and often, so you can make ridiculous profits in the alternative energy sector, you have to be part of the group.  There's simply too much money changing hands not to making some for yourself.