First Solar (FSLR) closed at $79.65 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.15% move from the prior day. The stock lagged the S&P 500’s daily gain of 0.51%. At the same time, the Dow added 0.44%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.19%.
Coming into today, shares of the largest U.S. solar company had gained 15.19% in the past month. In that same time, the Oils-Energy sector gained 12.34%, while the S&P 500 gained 5.51%.
Investors will be hoping for strength from First Solar as it approaches its next earnings release. In that report, analysts expect First Solar to post earnings of -$0.20 per share. This would mark a year-over-year decline of 110.2%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $616.35 million, down 23.28% from the year-ago period.
Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $0.77 per share and revenue of $2.53 billion. These totals would mark changes of -82.42% and -13.5%, respectively, from last year.
Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for First Solar. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company’s business and profitability.
Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 76.64% lower. First Solar currently has a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell).
In terms of valuation, First Solar is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 103.91. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 58.26, so we one might conclude that First Solar is trading at a premium comparatively.
Also, we should mention that FSLR has a PEG ratio of 10.97. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company’s expected earnings growth rate. Solar stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 6.1 based on yesterday’s closing prices.
The Solar industry is part of the Oils-Energy sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 211, putting it in the bottom 17% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our 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.
To follow FSLR in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.
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