Monday, December 10, 2007

For First Solar's Michael Ahearn, a year in the sun (FSLR)

From MarketWatch:

Phoenix attorney Michael Gallagher remembers sending a young lawyer named Michael Ahearn off to trial against a prominent legal opponent in a remote part of Arizona. The rookie was expected to lose big, but when he came back the winner in the case, it made a lasting impression.

"He's very smart, and he's got good instincts," Gallagher said recently. "People underestimate him because he's humble. He's quiet but capable, with great people skills."
Gallagher expected his new star to become a big-time trial lawyer. Instead, Ahearn shone brighter in the world of business, forgoing the courtroom.

Fast-forward to 2007, and Ahearn now sits at the helm of what may be the nation's hottest alternative-power company after turning in a dazzling year as the chief executive of First Solar Inc....MUCH MORE

SEE ALSO: Comments-

FSLR will be DOOMed because a looming global tellurium shortage. Tellurium is a critical raw material without which FSLR can produce nothing. I believe the demise of FSLR can come within 2 years, or even much sooner. Read:

http://www.seekingalpha.com/article/55959-the-tellurium-supernova

The Dec. 6th very brief conference call by the CFO, which was only 20 minutes and did not allow any Q&A, really shows how desperate FSLR has become in face of the looming tellurium shortage:

Here is the transcript at 00:08:05:
"(00:08:05)What we are TRYING to achieve, is a 90% confidence, that we have 5 years of supply assured, post full ramp of these facilities. And that confidence is demonstrated not only through our strategic inventory that we are holding, but also through a long term contract we are engaging with our supply base. And in addition we are seeking multi-source supplier engagements, in order to ensure continue production output, in line with our long term commitment we have given to our customers."

Please dot the keyword "TRYING". Sounds like a pretty complicated way of going around and saying something that is inconvenient to be said in straightforward plain English: We are desperately trying our best to buy from all over the world and try to hoard tellurium, but we still don't have full confidence that we have enough supply for the 5 years after Malaysia factories start up.