Tag Archives: request

First Solar Q1 Sales Expected To Double; 2017 Could Mark EPS Trough

Wall Street’s call for No. 1 solar installer  First Solar ( FSLR ) to exceed $3.50 in 2017 earnings might be “too high,” but that year also could mark a trough for the company’s profit, Deutsche Bank analyst Vishal Shah said Tuesday. Shah reiterated his buy rating — while also cutting his price target to 80 from 86 — on First Solar stock ahead of the company’s Q1 earnings report, due out after the close Wednesday. First Solar’s annual earnings are expected to dip 20% to $4.30 in 2016 and by another 18% to $3.53 in 2017, according to the consensus of 21 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters. But Shah sees the company returning to earnings growth in 2018. “We believe First Solar should be in a position to achieve $4.35-$5 (earnings per share) in 2020 in a base case scenario, or as high as $7.30-$8.50 in 2020 in a bull case scenario,” he wrote in a research report. The company’s EPS jumped 37% in 2015 to $5.37. For Q1, the consensus expects First Solar to report $958.3 million in sales, more than doubling year over year, and 90 cents EPS, swinging from a per-share loss of 60 cents in the year-earlier quarter. Both metrics are seen dipping in Q2. But Shah calls First Solar “a relative safe haven in the cleantech sector,” citing a strong balance sheet and robust near-term outlook. For 2016, First Solar’s earlier guidance called for 8% year-over-year sales growth. The company has a 3-gigawatt backlog for 2017-2020 comprised of 2 GW in system sales and 1 GW in module sales. Recent bookings have shifted in conjunction with First Solar’s earlier guidance for 80% modules and 20% systems in incremental bookings. Shah expects First Solar to book 2 GW-3.5 GW in system business for 2017-2020, while shipping 17 GW of modules into internal systems/third module customers. In early afternoon trading on the stock market today , First Solar stock was up 1%, near 61. Shares are down 8% this year but have fared better than IBD’s 20-company Energy-Solar industry group, which is down 27%. First Solar tops the group in terms of market value, with residential installer SolarCity ( SCTY ) and rival solar developer SunPower ( SPWR ) trailing distantly. Together, First Solar and SunPower sponsor yieldco 8point3 Energy Partners ( CAFD ), fourth in market value.

Own Facebook Stock? Here’s Why Snapchat Should Be On Your Radar

Loading the player… Social media stocks Twitter ( TWTR ), Facebook ( FB ) and LinkedIn ( LNKD ) all report quarterly earnings this week, with one analyst saying digital media investors should have privately held Snapchat on their radar “at a minimum.” SunTrust Robinson Humphrey on Monday said that Snapchat’s users are growing, potentially taking away some growth from Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Snapchat users also have deeper engagement, which is taking more time away from other platforms. And advertisers are shifting some of their budgets to Snapchat, which puts the advertising revenue of the publicly traded players at risk. SunTrust says Twitter is most at risk from Snapchat’s rise. The disappearing picture app now has a valuation of about $16 billion, while Twitter has a $12 billion market cap. Twitter reports after the close on Tuesday. Analysts see revenue up 39%, while earnings jump 43%. Shares are in an extended downtrend and are trading nearly 60% below their 52-week high. Twitter rose 2.8% intraday. Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday that Facebook is developing a “stand-alone camera app” that could be seen as a rival to Snapchat. The report comes as Facebook’s demographics continue to skew older, while Snapchat — which turned down a $3 billion buyout from Facebook a few years ago — has a strong hold on the teen market. The social networking giant is expected to see earnings and sales rise 48% when it reports after the close on Wednesday. Shares are trading 6% below a cup-with-handle buy point at 117.09. The stock is trying to find support at the 50-day line for a third straight session, but it’s just below that level intraday on the stock market today  as it falls a fraction. Meanwhile, LinkedIn reports Thursday. Earnings are projected to rise 5%, much slower than the 54% bottom-line growth seen last quarter. The stock is trading more than 50% below its 52-week high. LinkedIn climbed 2.5% Tuesday.

Eli Lilly Q1 Sales Beat Views, But Earnings Miss As Expenses Mount

Big pharma Eli Lilly ( LLY ) issued mixed first-quarter earnings and guidance Tuesday, sending its stock down in early trading. Lilly’s earnings, excluding one-time items, shrank 5% from the year-earlier quarter to 83 cents a share, missing analysts’ consensus by 2 cents, according to Thomson Reuters. Revenue rose 5% to $4.87 billion, beating consensus by $45 million. Lilly added 5 cents to its 2016 EPS guidance range, now $2.68 to $2.78. It also raised its sales guidance slightly to $20.6 billion to $21.1 billion. At the same time, it shaved a percentage point off its gross-margin guidance, now 76%, as it also lifted its guidance for R&D and sales, general and administrative spending. Lilly stock was down nearly 2% in morning trading on the stock market today , below 77. Improved foreign-exchange rates were responsible for much of the upside, along with a 5-cent-a-share tax benefit in Q1. At the same time, the bottom line was hit by rising R&D expenses, including a $55 million milestone payment to biotech partner Incyte ( INCY ) upon the submission for approval of their jointly developed drug baricitinib. On the level of individual products, diabetes drug Humalog provided the biggest surprise, with its $606 million in Q1 sales falling 11% from the prior year and missing consensus by $100 million, according to Evercore ISI. Lilly said demand for the drug had actually increased, but so had rebates and discounts that Lilly negotiated with payers. Lilly said it does not expect the downtrend to continue the rest of the year. Revenue from a newer diabetes drug, Jardiance, doubled compared with last year, though since Lilly splits the take with partner Boehringer Ingelheim, it only received $38 million in Q1. U.S. sales beat expectations, and Lilly said it’s taking more share of the growing SGLT2 class of diabetes drugs, perhaps accounting for the underperformance of Johnson & Johnson ‘s ( JNJ ) SGLT2 drug Invokana, as shown in J&J’s Q1 report last week. Leerink analyst Seamus Fernandez wrote that while there were various upsides and downsides to the report, “we expect a limited impact as investor concerns about a significant Q1 miss diminish, and the focus shifts to abemaciclib data at ASCO (the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting in June) and the conclusion of Expedition 3 (trial of solanezumab in Alzheimer’s disease) in Q4 2016,” he wrote in his research note.