Earnings Preview: First Solar Revenue Expected to Rise Over Last Quarter
First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR) announces its next round of earnings this Tuesday, July 26, 2011. Here's Benzinga's advanced look at the company's second quarter earnings report.
Earnings and Revenue:
Wall Street expects a positive EPS reading of 97 cents per share and revenues of $589.6 million. Whether the reported numbers beat or miss analysts' estimates, they will also be compared against last year's numbers for the same period, which were a profit of $1.84 per share on revenues of $587.9 million. We'll have to wait for Tuesday to see if First Solar reports rising revenue and shrinking EPS from the year-ago quarter, as analysts are expecting.
Here's how the company's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past:
| Quarter | Q1 | Q4 | Q3 | Q2 |
| EPS Estimate | $1.16 | $1.76 | $1.96 | $1.60 |
| EPS Actual | $1.33 | $1.80 | $2.04 | $1.84 |
Stock Performance:
At last check, shares of First Solar were trading at $123.36. Since January 1st, shares of First Solar have declined 5.2%.
Average Stock Rating:
The average rating by analysts for First Solar is a Hold. The strength of this rating has declined slightly over the past three months.
Competitors:
Looking for a sympathy stock to trade or interested in the performance of other companies in the same sector? Take a look at some of First Solar's peers.
- General Electric Company (NYSE: GE): Moderate Buy with a $0.31 recent quarter EPS
- Evergreen Solar (ESLR): Moderate Sell with a -$1.21 recent quarter EPS
- SunPower (SPWRA): Moderate Sell with a $0.01 recent quarter EPS
- Suntech Power Holdings (STP): Hold with a $0.17 recent quarter EPS
First Solar is in the solar industry, which has experienced price/earnings growth of 0.6%.
Finally, a description of the company's main areas of operation: First Solar designs and manufactures solar electric power modules using a proprietary thin film semiconductor technology. .
Take Action:
There is your peek into First Solar's upcoming earnings numbers, including some competitors to watch around the time of the announcement. Check back in with us after the announcement for a full recap of the announcement. In the meantime, here are some links to explore today.
- To see up-to-date news on First Solar, click here
- To see other trading ideas, click here
- To see other company earnings recaps, click here
