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First Solar (FSLR) closed at $189.24 in the latest trading session, marking a -0.99% move from the prior day. The stock's change was more than the S&P 500's daily loss of 1.54%. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 1.63%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 1.63%.
The largest U.S. solar company's shares have seen a decrease of 2.64% over the last month, surpassing the Oils-Energy sector's loss of 11.05% and falling behind the S&P 500's loss of 2.2%.
The investment community will be closely monitoring the performance of First Solar in its forthcoming earnings report. The company is predicted to post an EPS of $4.73, indicating a 45.54% growth compared to the equivalent quarter last year. In the meantime, our current consensus estimate forecasts the revenue to be $1.47 billion, indicating a 26.85% growth compared to the corresponding quarter of the prior year.
Additionally, investors should keep an eye on any recent revisions to analyst forecasts for First Solar. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. Consequently, upward revisions in estimates express analysts' positivity towards the company's business operations and its ability to generate profits.
Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. 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.
Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Over the past month, there's been a 0.3% rise in the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. At present, First Solar boasts a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell).
In terms of valuation, First Solar is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 9.4. This represents a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 11.84.
We can additionally observe that FSLR currently boasts a PEG ratio of 0.22. Comparable to the widely accepted P/E ratio, the PEG ratio also accounts for the company's projected earnings growth. The Solar was holding an average PEG ratio of 0.69 at yesterday's closing price.
The Solar industry is part of the Oils-Energy sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 142, this industry ranks in the bottom 44% 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.