Tag Archives: fslr

Can Tesla ‘Cousin’ SolarCity Hold Above Key Level Before Earnings?

After testing support at a key level in Tuesday’s session, SolarCity ( SCTY ) is trying to hold above that mark in the stock market today , ahead of its quarterly report next Monday. The stock rose nearly 5% Wednesday morning on a bullish analyst rating, but it reversed lower amid a market sell-off. SolarCity is now mostly unchanged, with the stock trading in quick turnover. A gain would end a four-session slide, with shares bouncing back from a test of support at their 50-day line. The stock is trading more than 50% below its 52-week high, as the shares have been scorched in recent months by Nevada’s new net-metering rules. Guggenheim initiated coverage on the solar panel installer with a buy rating and a price target of 38. On Monday, Credit Suisse cut its price target on SolarCity from 89 to 62 while maintaining its outperform rating. When it reports after the close next Monday, SolarCity is expected to report a 61% revenue rise, while its per-share loss widens to $2.34 a share from $1.52 a share last year. SolarCity’s “cousin company”  Tesla Motors ( TSLA ) — which is helmed by SolarCity Chairman Elon Musk — reports after the close tonight, Wednesday evening. Tesla shares are down nearly 2% intraday, falling just below their 50-day line but still just above their 200-day. Tesla is projected to show a widened bottom-line loss on sales growth of 45% as the automaker ramps up Model X production. Tesla’s Powerwall battery storage units are now beginning residential installations. SolarCity, whose founders are Musk’s cousins, is incorporating the Tesla batteries into its own energy storage system. Meanwhile, SolarCity rival Sunrun ( RUN ) reports earnings next Thursday. The August 2015 IPO’s sales are projected to come in at $83.4 million, down 16% from Q4, while its loss deepens from last quarter to 53 cents a share. Sunrun is up nearly 60% from its February low, but it is still nearly 50% below its all-time high reached in December. Sunrun rose fractionally Wednesday intraday. Elsewhere in the solar panel space, Solaredge ( SEDG ) fell 4.5%, and First Solar ( FSLR ) retreated by 1.7%. First Solar has lost 16% in five days since reporting weaker-than-expected revenue last week.

First Solar Q1 Torched On ITC Extension; SunPower, Sunrun Burned

First Solar ( FSLR ) stock tumbled Thursday on its $100-million-plus Q1 sales miss late Wednesday and the “understandable” but likely-to-raise-questions resignation of CEO Jim Hughes, Credit Suisse analyst Patrick Jobin says. CFO Mark Widmar will succeed Hughes, effective July 1. Alexander Bradley, vice president of global project finance and treasurer, will step in for Widmar. Hughes led First Solar out of its rocky May 2012 “crisis,” Jobin wrote in a research report. “Polysilicon costs were plummeting and First Solar’s technology was becoming cost disadvantaged,” Jobin wrote. “He successfully regained First Solar’s position of strength, the company’s panel is close to multi-crystalline,” he wrote. The management shift was inevitable, but “changes always tend to raise questions,” Jobin noted. He kept his neutral rating and 72 price target on First Solar stock. In afternoon trading on the stock market today , First Solar stock was down 6.5%, leading a broad 3% tumble in IBD’s 20-company Energy-Solar industry group. Shares of No. 2 rival SunPower ( SPWR ) were down nearly 2%. Residential installers Vivint Solar ( VSLR ) and Sunrun ( RUN ) stocks were down 3.5% and 2.5%, respectively, but shares of No. 1 rival SolarCity ( SCTY ) were up a fraction. For Q1, First Solar reported 3% year-over-year sales growth to $848 million and $1.66 earnings per share, swinging from a 62-cent per-share loss in the year-earlier period. EPS topped views after First Solar sold a 15% stake in its Desert Stateline project to Southern Co. ( SO ) and gained a one-time $38 million cash boost from its module recycling program, Mizuho analyst James von Riesemann wrote in a report. But analysts called for $958.3 million in sales, up 106% year over year. Adjusting for the Stateline and one-time asset sale, First Solar’s EPS would have come in around $1.06, Jobin wrote, still beating the consensus of 21 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters for 93 cents. First Solar blamed shifting to lower-priced, module-only sales for the disappointing Q1 sales, von Riesemann reported. He reiterated his neutral rating and 67 price target on First Solar stock. “The key issue appears to be how First Solar’s customers re-sort the timing of projects, given the ITC (investment tax credit) extension and how those customers’ procurement projects will be built up,” he wrote. Hughes noted as much in his remarks on the the company’s late Wednesday earnings conference call. Congress extended the key solar subsidy in December, pushing its expiration date out five years from the initial Dec. 31, 2016, end date. Analysts had predicted a sharp drop-off in installations following the ITC expiration. “In the U.S., the ITC extension has led to an increase in overall opportunity, but customers continue to work through revisions to project timing,” he said. That “has led to some temporary delays in new contracted bookings.”

First Solar Stock Tanks On $100 Mil Sales Miss; CFO Takes Reins

First Solar ( FSLR ) stock was torched late Wednesday when the No. 1 installer reported Q1 sales that missed Wall Street’s mark by more than $100 million and announced that CFO Mark Widmar would succeed CEO James Hughes. In after-hours trading, First Solar stock was down 4.5% after closing up 1.3% in the regular session. Shares are down 6% since January, outperforming No. 2 rival SunPower ( SPWR ) stock, which is down 27% over the past four months. For Q1, First Solar reported $848 million in sales, up 3% year over year, and $1.66 earnings per share, swinging from a 62-cent per-share loss in the year-earlier period. Sales fell $94 million sequentially and missed analyst views for $106% year-over-year growth. But EPS topped expectations for 93 cents. First Solar blamed the timing of systems-revenue recognition for the sequential drop in sales, but noted the plunge was partially offset by higher revenue from the Desert Stateline project. The company bumped up the low end of its full-year EPS guidance to $4.10-$4.50 from earlier expectations for $4-$4.50. EPS would be down 20% at the midpoint of guidance, potentially signaling a trough , according to Deutsche Bank analyst Vishal Shah. Full-year sales guidance for $3.8 billion to $4 billion was unchanged and would be up 9% at the midpoint. Chairman Michael Ahearn praised Hughes for his four years of leadership. His exit had not been expected. “Leadership succession planning has been a joint effort between Jim and the board of directors,” First Solar spokesman Steve Krum told IBD via email. “All parties are supportive of this change, which was part of an existing plan. The board and Jim believe that Mark’s proven leadership and expertise make him an ideal choice for leading the company into its next phase of growth.” Hughes will officially step down June 30, but will remain on the board and continue in an advisory role. “Under Jim’s astute guidance, First Solar achieved the strongest technology position in our history, with record bookings of new business and unparalleled financial strength in the industry,” Ahearn said in a statement.