Solar panel manufacturer First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) will be reporting results tomorrow after market hours. Here’s what you need to know.
First Solar missed analysts’ revenue expectations by 16.4% last quarter, reporting revenues of $887.7 million, up 10.8% year on year. It was a disappointing quarter for the company, with full-year revenue guidance missing analysts’ expectations.
Is First Solar a buy or sell going into earnings? Read our full analysis here, it’s free.
This quarter, analysts are expecting First Solar’s revenue to grow 28.1% year on year to $1.48 billion, improving from the 15.6% increase it recorded in the same quarter last year. Adjusted earnings are expected to come in at $4.75 per share.
Analysts covering the company have generally reconfirmed their estimates over the last 30 days, suggesting they anticipate the business to stay the course heading into earnings. First Solar has missed Wall Street’s revenue estimates six times over the last two years.
Looking at First Solar’s peers in the renewable energy segment, some have already reported their Q4 results, giving us a hint as to what we can expect. American Superconductor delivered year-on-year revenue growth of 56%, beating analysts’ expectations by 8.4%, and Nextracker reported a revenue decline of 4.4%, topping estimates by 3.6%. American Superconductor traded up 33.9% following the results while Nextracker was also up 24.3%.
Read our full analysis of American Superconductor’s results here and Nextracker’s results here.
Stocks generally had a good 2024. The Fed fought high inflation and won without sending the economy into a recession, otherwise lovingly known as a soft landing. The US Central Bank is now cutting rates. That, plus the election of Donald Trump in November 2024, sent markets even higher, and while some of the renewable energy stocks have shown solid performance, the group has generally underperformed, with share prices down 5.8% on average over the last month. First Solar is down 4.5% during the same time and is heading into earnings with an average analyst price target of $266.76 (compared to the current share price of $156.76).
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