First Solar Reports Utility-type Earnings Growth, Stock Drops (FSLR)

UPDATES: "UBS Cuts First Solar to Neutral; Has Had a Buy Rating on the Stock Since Dec. '07" "Cowen's Stone Comments on First Solar Results" (FSLR)"'
Original post:
The company reported 6.7% earnings growth, beating the street by 13 cents (Thompson Reuters ests.).
The stock is trading down $7.64 at $118.65. Remember this post "A VERY Important Article for Solar Investors (I'm Talking to You First Solar, Trina Solar, Suntech and Sunpower) FSLR; SPWRA, SPWRB; STP; TSL; YGE"?:

...Brave New Solar, or Grave New Solar?

There has been a debate within solar circles over the past year concerning the fate of the solar industry's bellwether stock, First Solar(FSLR Quote), and that debate boils down to this: Is First Solar still a growth stock?...

I won't have time for the conference call but will post the transcript tomorrow. We'll have more this evening. Here's Tech Trader Daily:

First Solar (FSLR) is trading lower after hours despite better-than-consensus Q4 results.

FSL reported Q4 revenue of $641.3 million, up from $408.9 million in Q3 and $433.7 million a year ago, and ahead of the Street at $581.4 million. EPS of $1.65 a share was ahead of the Street at $1.52.

The company repeated its previous guidance for 2010: revenue of $2.7 billion to $2.9 billion, with EPS of $6.06 to $6.85 a share. The company expects cap ex this year of $500 million to $550 million.

In a presentation prepared for this afternoon’s conference call with the Street, the company said global supply will likely exceed demand in the second half of the year, and that silicon module pricing is likely to decline further in the second half.

FSLR in late trading is down $7.04, or 5.6%, to $119.25.