The stock is up $12.31 (+8.49%) at $157.30.
First up, Investor's Business Daily, February 28:
First Solar Jumps On Strong Outlook For 2024, Overcoming Solar Sector Struggles
First Solar stock jumped Wednesday, shaking off the gloom hanging over stocks in the broader solar energy sector. The solar panel manufacturer reported fourth quarter results and an outlook for 2024 that impressed Wall Street.
First Solar (FSLR) reported Tuesday said that it earned $3.25 per share on sales of $1.2 billion for the December quarter. On average, analysts projected the Arizona-based company would post earnings of $3.14 per share on sales of $1.31 billion, according to FactSet. For the same period a year earlier, First Solar lost 7 cents per share on sales of $1 billion.
The company highlighted for investors that it was expanding capacity to meet a growing backlog of solar projects, despite a broader slowdown for the industry.
"Over the past year, we expanded manufacturing capacity, mobilized at our latest announced facility in Louisiana, produced and shipped a record volume of modules, expanded our contracted backlog to historic levels and increased R&D investment," First Solar Chief Executive Mark Widmar told analysts Tuesday night.
On the stock market today, First Solar stock rose more than 5% to 153.09 in early trading.
First Solar's Outlook For 2024
For the 2024 fiscal year ending with December, First Solar guided for sales between $4.4 billion and $4.6 billion. Coming into the report, analysts were projecting First Solar would tally $4.56 million in sales for all of 2024, according to FactSet.
Further, First Solar projects that its earnings per share for 2024 will fall between $13 and $14. That would nearly double its 2023 earnings per share of $7.74. Analysts were projecting a 2024 EPS of $13.26 for First Solar heading into the report, according to FactSet.
"FSLR has been executing consistently the last few quarters, not only scaling manufacturing capacity ... but also producing and shipping record volumes," wrote Evercore ISI analyst James West in a client note following the report....
....MUCH MORE
Here's the Q4 2023 First Solar Inc Earnings Call Transcript from Reuters via Yahoo Finance.
Recently:
Ahead Of Tomorrow's Earnings Report First Solar Releases Study On The Company's Economic Impact (FSLR)
Some background on why the company may feel compelled to point out the entire value chain effects of their being in business:...
****...As for our opinion? We have the Go-Go's "We got the beat" cued up.
As long-time readers know, we have some history with this one, including pretty much from the IPO to the all-time-high eighteen months later, a period known as "The happy time."
First Solar IPO:......$20.00 Nov. 17, 2006.
Top tick..............$317.00 May 14, 2008.
I stole "The happy time" from the Nazis who used it ("Die Glückliche Zeit") to describe their murder and destruction in the service of the attempt to starve Britain in the North Atlantic in 1940.
I like our usage better, seems happier.
