First Solar Goes Red

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

First Solar (NAS: FSLR) reported earnings on May 3. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended March 31 (Q1), First Solar whiffed on revenues and missed expectations on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue dropped and GAAP earnings per share contracted to a loss.


Margins contracted across the board.

Revenue details
First Solar reported revenue of $497.1 million. The 30 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ predicted revenue of $689.4 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 12% lower than the prior-year quarter's $567.3 million.

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Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

EPS details
EPS came in at -$0.08. The 27 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ averaged $0.62 per share. GAAP EPS were -$5.20 for Q1 compared to $1.33 per share for the prior-year quarter.

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Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

Margin details
For the quarter, gross margin was 15.4%, 3,040 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was -11.1%, 3,390 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was -90.4%, 11,080 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $790.9 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.93.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $3.50 billion. The average EPS estimate is $4.31.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a two-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 3,189 members out of 3,935 rating the stock outperform, and 746 members rating it underperform. Among 665 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 456 give First Solar a green thumbs-up, and 209 give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on First Solar is hold, with an average price target of $37.21.

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At the time thisarticle was published Seth Jayson had no position in any company mentioned here at the time of publication. You can view his stock holdings here. He is co-advisor ofMotley Fool Hidden Gems, which provides new small-cap ideas every month, backed by a real-money portfolio. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of First Solar. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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