In This Article:
In the latest market close, First Solar (FSLR) reached $192.64, with a +0.92% movement compared to the previous day. The stock trailed the S&P 500, which registered a daily gain of 1%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.78%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 1.51%.
The largest U.S. solar company's stock has climbed by 8.53% in the past month, exceeding the Oils-Energy sector's loss of 3.79% and the S&P 500's loss of 2.14%.
Investors will be eagerly watching for the performance of First Solar in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company's earnings per share (EPS) are projected to be $4.71, reflecting a 44.92% increase from the same quarter last year. Meanwhile, the latest consensus estimate predicts the revenue to be $1.47 billion, indicating a 26.48% increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year.
Any recent changes to analyst estimates for First Solar should also be noted by investors. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.
Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. To utilize this, we have created the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model that integrates these estimate changes and provides a functional 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 0.4% higher. Right now, First Solar possesses a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell).
With respect to valuation, First Solar is currently being traded at a Forward P/E ratio of 9.4. This denotes a discount relative to the industry's average Forward P/E of 10.16.
We can additionally observe that FSLR currently boasts a PEG ratio of 0.22. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. The average PEG ratio for the Solar industry stood at 0.73 at the close of the market yesterday.
The Solar industry is part of the Oils-Energy sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 84, this industry ranks in the top 34% of all industries, numbering over 250.
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.