First Solar (FSLR) closed the most recent trading day at $104.12, moving -0.19% from the previous trading session. This change lagged the S&P 500’s daily gain of 0.23%. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 0.03%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.43%.
Coming into today, shares of the largest U.S. solar company had gained 14.31% in the past month. In that same time, the Oils-Energy sector gained 8.65%, while the S&P 500 gained 3.86%.
Investors will be hoping for strength from FSLR as it approaches its next earnings release. In that report, analysts expect FSLR to post earnings of $1.26 per share. This would mark a year-over-year decline of 37.62%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $713.18 million, down 49.04% from the year-ago period.
Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for FSLR. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company’s business outlook.
Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.7% higher. FSLR is currently a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Looking at its valuation, FSLR is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 29.41. This represents a discount compared to its industry’s average Forward P/E of 69.63.
We can also see that FSLR currently has a PEG ratio of 1.69. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock’s expected earnings growth rate. Solar stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 2.53 based on yesterday’s closing prices.
The Solar industry is part of the Oils-Energy sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 82, which puts it in the top 33% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Make sure to utilize Zacks. Com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.
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