In the latest trading session, First Solar (FSLR) closed at $239.68, marking a -1.66% move from the previous day. This change lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.55%. At the same time, the Dow added 0.63%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.91%.
Prior to today's trading, shares of the largest U.S. solar company had lost 10.47% lagged the Oils-Energy sector's gain of 7.71% and the S&P 500's gain of 0.71%.
Market participants will be closely following the financial results of First Solar in its upcoming release. The company's upcoming EPS is projected at $5.22, signifying a 43.01% increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year. In the meantime, our current consensus estimate forecasts the revenue to be $1.57 billion, indicating a 3.94% growth compared to the corresponding quarter of the prior year.
Regarding the entire year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates forecast earnings of $14.61 per share and revenue of $5.11 billion, indicating changes of +21.55% and 0%, respectively, compared to the previous year.
Any recent changes to analyst estimates for First Solar should also be noted by investors. These latest adjustments often mirror the shifting dynamics of short-term business patterns. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the business and profitability.
Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To exploit this, we've formed the Zacks Rank, a quantitative model that includes these estimate changes and presents a viable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, spanning from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), boasts an impressive track record of outperformance, audited externally, with #1 ranked stocks yielding an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.01% lower. First Solar is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
In terms of valuation, First Solar is presently being traded at a Forward P/E ratio of 10.46. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 20.86, so one might conclude that First Solar is trading at a discount comparatively.
Also, we should mention that FSLR has a PEG ratio of 0.3. Comparable to the widely accepted P/E ratio, the PEG ratio also accounts for the company's projected earnings growth. As of the close of trade yesterday, the Solar industry held an average PEG ratio of 0.65.
The Solar industry is part of the Oils-Energy sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 61, putting it in the top 25% 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.
Don't forget to use Zacks.com to keep track of all these stock-moving metrics, and others, in the upcoming trading sessions.
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First Solar, Inc. (FSLR): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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