Solar panel manufacturer First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR) will be reporting earnings tomorrow afternoon. Here’s what investors should know.
First Solar beat analysts’ revenue expectations by 2% last quarter, reporting revenues of $1.51 billion, up 30.7% year on year. It was a softer quarter for the company, with full-year EPS guidance missing analysts’ expectations.
Is First Solar a buy or sell going into earnings? Read our full analysis here, it’s free.
This quarter, analysts are expecting First Solar’s revenue to grow 6.8% year on year to $847.9 million, slowing from the 44.8% increase it recorded in the same quarter last year. Adjusted earnings are expected to come in at $2.65 per share.
Analysts covering the company have generally reconfirmed their estimates over the last 30 days, suggesting they anticipate the business to stay the course heading into earnings. First Solar has missed Wall Street’s revenue estimates five times over the last two years.
Looking at First Solar’s peers in the electrical equipment segment, some have already reported their Q1 results, giving us a hint as to what we can expect. Enphase delivered year-on-year revenue growth of 35.2%, missing analysts’ expectations by 1.6%, and Bel Fuse reported revenues up 18.9%, topping estimates by 1.6%. Enphase traded down 15.8% following the results, while Bel Fuse was up 3.4%.
Read our full analysis of Enphase’s results here and Bel Fuse’s results here.
Investors in the electrical equipment segment have had fairly steady hands going into earnings, with share prices down 1.4% on average over the last month. First Solar is up 12.4% during the same time and is heading into earnings with an average analyst price target of $228.59 (compared to the current share price of $142.16).
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