RBC Capital Analyst Explains The First Solar Downgrade

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Mahesh Sanganeria of RBC Capital downgraded First Solar, Inc. FSLR to Underperform from Sector Perform following which shares of the company nosedived.

 

Sanganeria was on CNBC recently to explain why he downgraded the stock.

 

2016 Can Dissapoint

 

“The key thing here is that there is a sharp [blip] in gross margin, I think, which investors are not appreciate,” Sanganeria said. “Although company has been pretty transparent, they have been telling us that the gross margins are going to be in 15 to 20 percent range and for a company which did a gross margin of 50 percent in 2009 and 35 percent in 2011. So, gross margin has been on a decline, that’s number one.”

 

He continued, “Number two; based on the pipeline or projects the company has reported, we think the revenues will be flattish. So, if we put those things together, we get an earnings estimate which is $1.37 whereas the consensus numbers are big range from $2 to $5. So, I mean that the big range in consensus tells you there’s a misunderstanding on company’s earning power and that’s what we are trying to point at that there may be a disappointment in terms of earnings in 2016.”

 

More Visiblity Needed

 

Sanganeria was asked what changes he needs to see before he can upgrade the stock. He replied, “I think, the key things is that we need to understand where the real earning power is. So, we have to get comfort around that and what is the right valuation and the stock has to [come in] that has to happen.”

 

“I mean, right now as you can tell from consensus estimates that we really don’t know where exactly that company’s core earning power is. And so, we need to get more visibility, more clarity from the company, they have to come out and say these are the right numbers,” Sanganeria concluded. 

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Posted In: CNBCMedia
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