Giant Manufacturing Co. Ltd., one of the world's largest bicycle makers, posted double digit earnings growth for the first three quarters of 2010 in part because of lingering concerns over global warming, an analyst said Wednesday. Giant on Tuesday announced net earnings of NT$2.34 billion (US$76.46 million) for the first nine months of the year, up 29.6 percent from a year earlier. Earnings per share were NT$6.6. During the same period, Giant had sales of NT$33.38 billion, up 12.3 percent from the same period in 2009. 'Buying environment friendly products, like bicycles, has become a trend in the global market, ' MasterLink Securities analyst Tom Tang said. 'Giant is one of the beneficiaries of such a trend.' Tang said the EPS of NT$6.6 was relatively high for the old economy sector. 'It is very possible for the company to generate an EPS of NT$8 for 2010,' he said. According to Giant, while sales in the domestic market appeared to have slowed after a strong showing in 2009, its sales in overseas markets, including the United States, Europe, China, Japan, Australia and Canada, continued to grow. A new subsidiary in South Korea that began operations last year also generated better than expected gains in earnings. 'Giant has become one of the favorites of foreign institutional investors. Foreign investors are very willing to hold the stock, ' the analyst said. Foreign institutional investors now own about 50 percent of Giant's shares in circulation, a ratio few old economy stocks could match, Tang said. As the stock's valuation now appeared high, however, after recent intensive buying from foreign investors, it was approaching its nearest technical resistance at around NT$126.00, Tang said. He suggested that investors buy the stock cautiously and remain aware of a possible technical pullback in the near future. At 11: 46 a.m., Giant was up 0.4 percent at NT$120.00, off an early high of NT$123.00, with 647,000 shares changing hands. The benchmark weighted index was down 0.41 percent at 8,309.15. 