FSLR Stock: First Solar Dims After Missing Q1 Targets

Solar power company First Solar (FSLR) late Thursday badly missed expectations for the first quarter. FSLR stock fell in extended trading.

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The Tempe, Ariz.-based company earned 40 cents a share on sales of $548 million in the March quarter. However, analysts polled by FactSet had expected earnings of 99 cents a share on sales of $714 million. In the year-earlier period, First Solar lost 41 cents a share on sales of $367 million.

Meanwhile, the company kept its full-year outlook unchanged. First Solar predicts 2023 earnings of $7.50 a share on sales of $3.5 billion. That’s based on the midpoint of its projections. Analysts had predicted full-year earnings of $7.25 a share on sales of $3.54 billion.

In 2022, First Solar lost 41 cents a share on sales of $2.62 billion.

First Solar Stock Falls After Report

In after-hours trading on the stock market today, FSLR stock dropped 5.3% to 190.27. During the regular session Thursday, First Solar stock advanced 0.7% to close at 200.83.

“We entered 2023 in a significantly stronger commercial, operational, and financial position than the previous year, setting the stage for growth and improved profitability in 2023 and beyond,” Chief Executive Mark Widmar said in a news release.

First Solar specializes in manufacturing high-efficiency, thin-film solar panels used mainly in utility-scale solar power operations and some commercial installations.

Analysts say First Solar will benefit from the Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law by President Joe Biden in August. It provides $369 billion for expansion of renewable energy and stands as the largest U.S. green-energy law ever. The law provides tax credits and other incentives for solar energy purchases.

FSLR Stock Is A Recent Breakout

FSLR stock ranks 10th out of 24 stocks in IBD’s Energy-Solar industry group, according to IBD Stock Checkup. First Solar has a middling IBD Composite Rating of 49 out of 99.

IBD’s Composite Rating combines five separate proprietary ratings into one easy-to-use rating. The best growth stocks have a Composite Rating of 90 or better.

On March 1, FSLR stock broke out of a six-week consolidation pattern at a buy point of 185.38, according to IBD MarketSmith charts.

Follow Patrick Seitz on Twitter at @IBD_PSeitz for more stories on consumer technology, software and semiconductor stocks.

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