In the meantime, here's BusinessWeek:
Analyst Picks & Pans
First Solar: Miller Tabak equity analyst Chris Kettenmann maintained a buy rating and $190 price target on shares of First Solar (FSLR), the world's biggest maker of solar power panels, on Oct. 29.
On Oct. 28, First Solar said third-quarter profit climbed 15 percent on higher sales in Germany and Canada. Net income rose to $176.8 million, or $2.04 a share, from $153.3 million, or $1.79 a share, a year earlier, the Tempe (Ariz.) company said in a statement. Profit was expected to be $1.69 a share, the average of 27 analysts' estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Sales increased to $797.9 million from $480.9 million.
The company said it foresees 2010 earnings per share (EPS) in a range of $7.50 to $7.65, vs. its previous forecast, issued in July, of $7.00 to $7.40,
First Solar plans nearly to double global production capacity to 2,700 megawatts in 2012, from about 1,400 megawatts this year, as its lowest-cost technology wins orders from Germany to Vietnam.
"First Solar appears well-positioned going into 2011, and we believe the company is poised for accelerated cost reductions from conversion efficiency gains," Kettenmann wrote in a note. "We believe management is telegraphing a meaningful increase of efficiencies at scale over 2011 with continued gains through yearend."...MORE
