Benzinga

España
Italia
대한민국
日本
Français
Benzinga Edge
Benzinga Research
Benzinga Pro

  • Get Benzinga Pro
  • Data & APIs
  • Events
  • Premarket
  • Advertise
Contribute
España
Italia
대한민국
日本
Français

Benzinga

  • Premium Services
  • Financial News
    Latest
    Earnings
    Guidance
    Dividends
    M&A
    Buybacks
    Interviews
    Management
    Offerings
    IPOs
    Insider Trades
    Biotech/FDA
    Politics
    Healthcare
    Small-Cap
  • Markets
    Pre-Market
    After Hours
    Movers
    ETFs
    Options
    Cryptocurrency
    Commodities
    Bonds
    Futures
    Mining
    Real Estate
    Volatility
  • Ratings
    Analyst Color
    Downgrades
    Upgrades
    Initiations
    Price Target
  • Investing Ideas
    Trade Ideas
    Long Ideas
    Short Ideas
    Technicals
    Analyst Ratings
    Analyst Color
    Latest Rumors
    Whisper Index
    Stock of the Day
    Best Stocks & ETFs
    Best Penny Stocks
    Best S&P 500 ETFs
    Best Swing Trade Stocks
    Best Blue Chip Stocks
    Best High-Volume Penny Stocks
    Best Small Cap ETFs
    Best Stocks to Day Trade
    Best REITs
  • Money
    Investing
    Cryptocurrency
    Mortgage
    Insurance
    Yield
    Personal Finance
    Forex
    Startup Investing
    Real Estate Investing
    Prop Trading
    Credit Cards
    Stock Brokers
Research
My Stocks
Tools
Free Benzinga Pro Trial
Calendars
Analyst Ratings Calendar
Conference Call Calendar
Dividend Calendar
Earnings Calendar
Economic Calendar
FDA Calendar
Guidance Calendar
IPO Calendar
M&A Calendar
Unusual Options Activity Calendar
SPAC Calendar
Stock Split Calendar
Trade Ideas
Free Stock Reports
Insider Trades
Trade Idea Feed
Analyst Ratings
Unusual Options Activity
Heatmaps
Free Newsletter
Government Trades
Perfect Stock Portfolio
Easy Income Portfolio
Short Interest
Most Shorted
Largest Increase
Largest Decrease
Calculators
Margin Calculator
Forex Profit Calculator
100x Options Profit Calculator
Screeners
Stock Screener
Top Momentum Stocks
Top Quality Stocks
Top Value Stocks
Top Growth Stocks
Compare Best Stocks
Best Momentum Stocks
Best Quality Stocks
Best Value Stocks
Best Growth Stocks
Connect With Us
facebookinstagramlinkedintwitteryoutubeblueskymastodon
About Benzinga
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
Market Resources
  • Advanced Stock Screener Tools
  • Options Trading Chain Analysis
  • Comprehensive Earnings Calendar
  • Dividend Investor Calendar and Alerts
  • Economic Calendar and Market Events
  • IPO Calendar and New Listings
  • Market Outlook and Analysis
  • Wall Street Analyst Ratings and Targets
Trading Tools & Education
  • Benzinga Pro Trading Platform
  • Options Trading Strategies and News
  • Stock Market Trading Ideas and Analysis
  • Technical Analysis Charts and Indicators
  • Fundamental Analysis and Valuation
  • Day Trading Guides and Strategies
  • Live Investors Events
  • Pre market Stock Analysis and News
  • Cryptocurrency Market Analysis and News
Ring the Bell

A newsletter built for market enthusiasts by market enthusiasts. Top stories, top movers, and trade ideas delivered to your inbox every weekday before and after the market closes.

  • Terms & Conditions
  • Do Not Sell My Personal Data/Privacy Policy
  • Disclaimer
  • Service Status
  • Sitemap
© 2026 Benzinga | All Rights Reserved
April 6, 2016 1:34 PM 3 min read

Analyst On First Solar Short-Term Outlook: 'Meh'

by Manikandan Raman Benzinga Staff Writer
Follow
FSLR Logo
FSLRFirst Solar Inc
$247.00-0.97%
Overview
The analyst day of First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:
FSLR
Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

© 2026 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.


Posted In:
Analyst ColorNewsAnalyst Ratings
) fell short of investor expectations who were expecting the company to provide 2017 guidance as it has in the past. But, it did provide a long-term vision that pacified the Wall Street who still remains concerned on the near-term prospects of the company. Philip Shen of Roth Capital who reiterated his Buy rating and $80 price target on FSLR shares believes management "will likely issue 2017 guidance in December." Avondale Partners analyst Michael Morosi said: "We believe the company is capable of delivering $8+ EPS with a doubling of capacity, 200bps+ of module efficiency improvements, and operating leverage leading to mid-teens OPM. However, we came away with few near-term catalysts and little to contradict our concern that EPS is set to plateau over the next couple years." Morosi has a Market Perform rating and $74 price target on FSLR shares. Morosi said FSLR targets 20GW of booking opportunity for 2016, requiring just a 15 percent conversation rate to achieve a 1:1 book-to-bill ratio. Against the backdrop of about 15 percent annual installation growth, management estimates 27GW of potential annual booking opportunities in '17-'20, the analyst added. Deutsche Bank's Vishal Shah noted: "While we continue to believe FSLR is best positioned to gain share of the U.S. and int'l solar markets and its technology advantage vs major competitors should continue to improve, visibility is likely to remain limited in the near term." Shah noted that net cash balance could continue to decline over the next few years as the company begins to ramp capacity as well as starts the new project development cycle for 2019/20 delivery timeframe. "With limited near term catalysts on the horizon, we expect shares to remain in a trading range and maintain Buy rating based on balance sheet strength as well as prospects of market share gains" added Shah who has a price target of $86 on the stock. Following are the key takeaways of the analyst day as listed out by Shah: 1) FSLR did not provide annual earnings guidance as it has been providing in the past analyst days. 2) The qualitative earnings guidance for 2017/18 "was well below street and our expectations." 3) Most investors were expecting major capacity expansion announcement. While FSLR did provide some details, "we believe investors were likely expecting more near term capacity ramp as opposed to 2019/20 ramp as FSLR guided." 4) Management did provide mid-term efficiency and cost targets - but no specific timeframe which was somewhat disappointing and no specific cost targets like it had provided in the past. 5) Management did suggest that given the increased focus on S6 ramp, there will be a reduction in S4/S5 efficiency improvement in the near term. 6) The company is still evaluating Tetrasun technology with 100MW pilot line up and running although none of the future capacity or cost roadmap include Tetrasun. "We do not expect FSLR to make any progress with this technology." 7) In terms of capacity roadmap, FSLR is being somewhat cautious and not being aggressive to add capacity in the near term. In late 2017, the company expects to deploy 4 lines of series 4 tech and add about 425MW for 4 lines. The company expects to bring additional 4 lines of series 5 manufacturing with full production expected in 2018. Series 6 capacity is unlikely to be available until 2019 at the earliest and the company expects 5GW total capacity in 2019; 6.5-7GW in 2020. 8) In terms of financial metrics, FSLR expects future net cash balance to decrease to $1 billion - $1.5 billion versus 2016 net cash balance of $1.9 billion - $2.2 billion. Finally, the company suggested that it had $1 billion - $1.2 billion of contracted business from 2017 through 2020 and a lot this revenue recognition would be back-end loaded as the company believes it can capture $300 million - $400 million incremental margin through S5, S6, MVDC etc. Shares of First Solar were down 0.22 percent to $62.28.
FSLR Logo
FSLRFirst Solar Inc
$247.00-0.97%
Overview
Comments
Loading...