What happened Shares of Vivint Solar (NYSE: VSLR) jumped as much as 11.6% in trading yesterday after the residential solar installer reported third-quarter earnings that topped expectations. Shares gave up some of those gains as the day went on, but they closed up 6.8% for the day to lead renewable energy stocks. So what Installations jumped to 65.1 megawatts (MW) in the quarter from 54.3 MW a year ago, and revenue jumped 33% to $103.8 million. Net loss increased by 76% to $13.8 million, or $0.11 per share. In the short term, losses can grow when installations rise because of the expenses incurred immediately to capture contracts that generate value for 20 years or more. Image source: Getty Images. From a value perspective, Vivint Solar is starting to pick up momentum as well. Retained value, a measure of the present value of all future contracted cash flows, increased to $2.19 billion from $1.93 billion a year ago. Management estimates there is $10.32 in net retained value per share. That's not a perfect proxy for how investors should value the company, but if net retained value per share grows over time, which it has from $7.15 two years ago, it makes sense that shares would rise, too. Now what The momentum of solar installations is certainly positive, and management said that storage demand is picking up, albeit from a small base, in Hawaii and California. I'm a little concerned about costs per watt rising to $3.48 from $3.16 per watt a year ago, but that's consistent with rising costs across the industry. Given the value Vivint Solar has on the balance sheet, this is a stock I think still has room to run. 10 stocks we like better than Vivint SolarWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has quadrupled the market.* David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the ten best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Vivint Solar wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. See the 10 stocks *Stock Advisor returns as of June 1, 2019 Travis Hoium has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.Source