How First Solar Shattered Bottom-Line Expectations
First Solar released a better-than-expected quarterly earnings report after the markets closed on Thursday, and shares were up sharply first thing Friday.
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When First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) released its most recent quarterly earnings report after the markets closed on Thursday, the company said that it had $0.64 in earnings per share (EPS) and $623.3 million in revenue. Consensus estimates had called for a loss of $0.04 per share and revenue of $535.5 million. The second quarter of last year reportedly had EPS of had $0.25 and $1.0 billion in revenue.
Almost in response to this report, First Solar raised its earnings and revenue guidance for the full year. Effectively, the company said that it raised guidance as a result of improved visibility into the sale of systems projects, a discrete tax benefit in the second quarter and continuing operational improvements.
First Solar’s outlook for 2017 is currently $2.00 to $2.50 in EPS (up from the previous range of $0.25 to $0.75) and $3.0 billion to $3.1 billion in revenue. Consensus estimates call for EPS of $0.61 and $2.9 billion in revenue.
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First Solar’s cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities totaled $2.2 billion at the end of the quarter, up from $2.0 billion at the end of the previous fiscal year.
Mark Widmar, CEO of First Solar, commented:
We executed well in the second quarter with solid non-GAAP earnings of $0.64, record quarterly shipments of nearly 900MWdc and bookings of 1.5GWdc since our last earnings call. We are encouraged by the continuing strong demand for our Series 4 product and are focused on meeting our customers’ current needs. At the same time, our efforts to ensure the manufacturing and market readiness of Series 6 remains our highest priority. With the first Series 6 equipment being installed at our Ohio factory, and an increasing number of mid-to-late stage Series 6 bookings opportunities, we are pleased with our progress thus far.
Shares of First Solar traded up about 7.6% early Friday to $48.20. The consensus analyst price target is $43.95 and the 52-week trading range is $25.56 to $49.50.
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Chris Lange is a writer for 24/7 Wall St., based in Houston. He has covered financial markets over the past decade with an emphasis on healthcare, tech, and IPOs. During this time, he has published thousands of articles with insightful analysis across these complex fields. Currently, Lange's focus is on military and geopolitical topics. Lange's work has been quoted or mentioned in Forbes, The New York Times, Business Insider, USA Today, MSN, Yahoo, The Verge, Vice, The Intelligencer, Quartz, Nasdaq, The Motley Fool, Fox Business, International Business Times, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Barron’s, Benzinga, and many other major publications. A graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, Lange majored in business with a particular focus on investments. He has previous experience in the banking industry and startups.
