LOS ANGELES - Shares of SunPower Corp rallied more than 6 percent on Monday as analysts upped their view of the company ahead of its quarterly results slated for this week.

Brokerage Robert W. Baird upgraded SunPower to outperform from neutral on Monday and said the solar power player could top consensus estimates for the third and fourth quarters.

Similarly, Broadpoint AmTech analyst John Hardy raised his estimate for SunPower's third quarter earnings to 42 cents per share from 37 cents per share.

SunPower in particular continues to get more visibility into the first half of next year in Italy, which could be quite important, Hardy said.

California-based SunPower reports quarterly earnings on Thursday, while other solar power companies such as First Solar Inc and Suntech Power Holdings Co Ltd are expected to report in the coming weeks.

The industry is expected to post its rosiest quarter in a year. It had been hit by a lack of financing for new projects, falling prices and a global glut of panels.

Shares of SunPower were up 6.1 percent at $33.54 in trading on the Nasdaq.

(Reporting by Laura Isensee, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)

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