Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. (STP: sentiment, chart, options) found itself in the crosshairs of bearish analysts today, with the equity garnering 2 downgrades this morning. Specifically, Friedman Billings Ramsey & Co. slashed the stock from "market perform" to "underperform," while Broadpoint cut the shares to "neutral."

In a note, Friedman cited a rapid drop in average selling prices for the downgrade. The firm also pointed to flattening demand from Spain, a major Suntech client. "We do not believe demand in other parts of Europe has picked up to fill the hole left by Spain, as Spain accounted for 30 percent of revenues in the first nine months of 2008, and we believe that shipment into Spain has been nil since October 2008," said the brokerage.

This morning's barrage of pessimism follows a warning from Suntech Tuesday, when the solar concern said it would suspend its capacity expansion plan due to weak demand. Additionally, the company reported that 10% of its workforce was cut in the last quarter, and plans to hire 2,000 staff have been put on hold.

At midday, STP has swallowed a loss of more than 7%. The equity is off 81.8% during the past 52 weeks, thanks in part to unflagging resistance from its 20-week and 40-week moving averages. Option players are catching onto the stock's dismal performance, as STP's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 1.23 is docked just 7 percentage points from a new annual high.