UPDATE: Bank of America Merrill Lynch Reiterates Buy Rating, Raises PT on First Solar

In a report published Wednesday, Bank of America Merrill Lynch reiterated its Buy rating on First Solar

, and raised its price target from $30.00 to $35.00. BofA Merrill Lynch noted, “We're reiterating our Buy recommendation and raising our price objective from $30 to $35. We think the big returns in First Solar's stock may be behind us for the intermediate term, while we and the rest of the market work to understand the sustainability of First Solar's business model beyond the current profit bulge. However, we think the stock represents solid value at the current level, and we note that cash generation improves substantially starting in 2013...In our view, the rapid declines in crystalline solar module pricing are behind us – with no profit margins left to give up, China's module companies must now focus on grinding out incremental cost. That gives First Solar a chance to begin leverage its own cost curve again. We think the company will be capable of building utility-scale solar facilities for less than $1.40 a watt by 2014, which should leave First Solar competitive with anything that Chinese module suppliers and third-party EPCs can deliver.” First Solar closed on Tuesday at $32.00.