First Solar (FSLR) shares ended the last trading session 5.4% higher at $84.51. The jump came on an impressive volume with a higher-than-average number of shares changing hands in the session. This compares to the stock’s 3.4% gain over the past four weeks.
The latest uptick in First Solar’s share price can be attributed to President Biden’s recent ban on import of certain solar products from China. Notably, the products on which Biden has imposed ban are used to manufacture solar panels. This must have boosted investors’ confidence in First Solar, with the company being a prominent U.S.-based solar panel manufacturer and should thus benefit from this ban, which got reflected in the form of share price appreciation.
This largest U.S. solar company is expected to post quarterly earnings of $0.74 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +111.4%. Revenues are expected to be $643.02 million, up 0.1% from the year-ago quarter.
Earnings and revenue growth expectations certainly give a good sense of the potential strength in a stock, but empirical research shows that trends in earnings estimate revisions are strongly correlated with near-term stock price movements.
For First Solar, the consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has remained unchanged over the last 30 days. And a stock’s price usually doesn’t keep moving higher in the absence of any trend in earnings estimate revisions. So, make sure to keep an eye on FSLR going forward to see if this recent jump can turn into more strength down the road.
The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank 3 (Hold). You can see
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