Analyst: First Solar Shares May Rise On Q2 Results Later Tuesday

First Solar, Inc.

slated to post earnings after the bell Tuesday, could see its shares rise on positive results and low expectations, according to an analyst. The company's shares are down 6 percent in the recent quarter and analysts have slashed earnings estimates. Deutsche Bank's Vishal Shah said efficiency improvements may enable the company to boost its 2014 outlook. Shah expects no announcement Tuesday regarding the establishment of a so-called yieldco, an increasingly popular practice in the sector where up-and-running projects are publicly traded as part of a separate company unit. But Shah expects First Solar to launch a yieldco later this year. Shah maintains a Hold and $70 target on the company. Meanwhile, First Solar may be poised to gain market share as the U.S. moves to impose anti-dumping penalties on competing Chinese solar power equipment. First Solar "is the best positioned" to gain from the changing market dynamic, according to Brean Capital's Michael Gaugler. A final order from the International Trade Commission isn't expected until February, but U.S. Customs will collect cash deposits based on preliminary rates, Gaugler said in a note. Wall Street expects second-quarter earnings of $0.37 a share, on revenue of $795.9 million. Adjusted earnings a year earlier were $0.39 cents a share, on revenue of $519.8 million. First Solar was trading at $63.77 in afternoon trading, up 1 percent. Although some industry watchers have expressed worry that higher import duties will raise consumer costs and thus retard large-scale adoption of the technology, Gaugler notes that Chinese imports of the equipment have fallen by 50 percent in the past couple of years, while at the same time, installation costs in the U.S. have dropped.