Coming into the report the stock was up $6.13 (+4.50%) at $142.45 at Tuesday's close. After the numbers crossed the wire the stock continued higher, up another $6.90 (+4.84%) to $149.35 by the end of the after-hours session. So far this morning's pre-market action is a bit less enthusiastic, up $5.17 at $147.62.
From Investors Business Daily, October 31:
Solar manufacturer First Solar (FSLR) reported adjusted earnings of $2.50 per share on revenue of $801 million for the third quarter, the company said late Tuesday. FSLR stock was up in after-hours trading, despite sales falling short of estimates.
For the quarter ended Sept. 30, analysts were expecting First Solar to post adjusted earning of $2.05 per share on revenue of $904 million.
On the stock market today, FSLR stock closed up 4.5% at 142.45 Shares were up by 3% in after-hours trading following the report.
FSLR Stock: Upped Guidance, Backlog Grows
First Solar is a Tempe, Ariz.-based manufacturer of solar panels.
The company on Tuesday raised the lower end of its guidance for the full year. At the midpoint, the company upped its projected operating income from $807 million to $820 million and raised its estimate for 2023 adjusted earnings to $7.60 per share, from $7.50....
....MUCH MORE
Regarding the stock, yesterday and this morning saw only the second notable bounce since late August and today's action is not yet in the can, as they say in Hollywood.
Here's your fearless forecaster in August:
"First Solar, The Poster Child For Solar Subsidies Has Had An Awful Month (FSLR)":
As the Wall Street Journal noted on July 31:
The U.S. Clean-Energy Company That Hit the Subsidies Jackpot
Of all the beneficiaries of the U.S.’s green-energy push, few have hit the jackpot like First Solar. The Arizona-based solar-panel manufacturer expects to receive as much as $710 million this year—nearly 90% of forecast operating profit—from subsidies the U.S. government rolled out a year ago to encourage domestic renewables production. One analyst estimates the incentives could be worth more than $10 billion for the company over the next decade. . .
The company’s shares have more than doubled to $208.40 in Friday trade since the beginning of 2022, despite a string of earnings disappointments during that period....
Which led yours truly to opine (a few minute to the open on Aug. 25, previous close $174.42):
As can be seen, the stock traded at $224.50 on July 28.
After the $50.08 (22.3%) decline the stock might be offering itself up for a trade to the long side but not today. In pre-market action the stock can only muster a 33 cent uptick on a day when all three major index futures are up going into the open.
FSLR will be reporting earnings in October so somewhere in the Aug. 28 - Oct. 26 time frame there should be an opportunity but we have no interest on JPow speech day and/or until the stock can find a bottom.
So, not exactly gamboling across the greenswards but perhaps searching for a bottom.
Well, October 26 was the wrong date for the earnings report. We were relying on Zacks who were relying on their earnings-gonna-be-reported algorithm (seriously). Here is the last three months of price action via BigCharts:
The buyers held off until the very last day before earnings. And that $150-area support area has now become resistance.
If interested, here is the earnings call transcript via The Motley Fool.
