Q1 2024 Earnings Forecast for First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) Issued By KeyCorp

First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR – Get Rating) – Stock analysts at KeyCorp boosted their Q1 2024 earnings estimates for shares of First Solar in a research note issued on Monday, March 6th. KeyCorp analyst S. Karp now anticipates that the solar cell manufacturer will earn $3.57 per share for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of $2.61. KeyCorp has a “Overweight” rating and a $227.00 price target on the stock. The consensus estimate for First Solar’s current full-year earnings is $7.21 per share. KeyCorp also issued estimates for First Solar’s Q2 2024 earnings at $3.77 EPS, Q3 2024 earnings at $3.91 EPS and Q4 2024 earnings at $4.17 EPS.

FSLR has been the topic of a number of other reports. Argus raised their target price on shares of First Solar from $123.00 to $176.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 10th. Evercore ISI lowered shares of First Solar from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $157.00 to $150.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of First Solar from $146.00 to $194.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 10th. Daiwa Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of First Solar in a report on Friday, December 23rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $175.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of First Solar from $215.00 to $190.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 1st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $195.35.

First Solar Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FSLR opened at $211.25 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $22.52 billion, a PE ratio of -502.96 and a beta of 1.36. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $172.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $152.94. First Solar has a one year low of $59.60 and a one year high of $218.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 3.05 and a current ratio of 3.65.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 28th. The solar cell manufacturer reported ($0.07) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.18) by $0.11. The business had revenue of $1 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1 billion. First Solar had a negative net margin of 1.69% and a negative return on equity of 0.75%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.23 earnings per share.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Solar

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its position in First Solar by 671.2% during the third quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,018 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $135,000 after purchasing an additional 886 shares during the period. Hudock Inc. acquired a new position in First Solar during the third quarter valued at $39,000. Bouvel Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in First Solar by 1.2% during the third quarter. Bouvel Investment Partners LLC now owns 19,357 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $2,560,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its position in First Solar by 1.6% during the second quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 8,636 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $585,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the period. Finally, Tobam acquired a new position in First Solar during the third quarter valued at $517,000. 80.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Solar

In other news, CEO Mark R. Widmar sold 26,553 shares of First Solar stock in a transaction on Friday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.70, for a total transaction of $5,488,505.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 108,413 shares in the company, valued at $22,408,967.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CAO Byron Michael Jeffers sold 1,281 shares of First Solar stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.50, for a total transaction of $272,212.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark R. Widmar sold 26,553 shares of First Solar stock in a transaction on Friday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.70, for a total transaction of $5,488,505.10. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 108,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,408,967.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 37,909 shares of company stock worth $7,870,618 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

About First Solar

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First Solar, Inc engages in designing, manufacturing, marketing, and the distribution of photovoltaic solar power systems and solar modules. It operates through the Modules and Systems segments. The Modules segment involves the design, manufacture, and sale of cadmium telluride solar modules, which convert sunlight into electricity.