Markets are plummeting.
But stocks, like First Solar (SYM: FSLR) have been bucking the trend.
Over the last few days, FSLR ran from about $120 to $134.80 – even as the major indices lost trillions of market value. Even today, with the Dow down another 1,000 points, FSLR is up about $5.80 a share. One of the key reasons for its resiliency has been its ability to avoid tariffs on solar products manufactured in China.
As noted by Renewable Energy World, “The company’s cadmium telluride products do not use polysilicon, a raw material produced in limited quantities domestically. This allows First Solar to avoid increased tariffs on solar products manufactured in China, making its products a hot commodity for developers seeking Inflation Reduction Act tax credits and saving the company from the wrath of a 54% tax on all Chinese imports.”
“The company operates three facilities in Ohio, opened a $1.1 billion plant in Alabama last September, and is constructing a 3.5-gigawatt (GW) capacity factory in Louisiana expected to come online next year,” they added.
From its last traded price of $135.72, we’d like to see FSLR retest $150 initially.
As for recent FSLR earnings, the company did see fourth quarter EPS of $3.65, which missed by $1.04. However, revenue of $1.51 billion – up 30.2% year over year – beat by $30 million.
“In 2024, we continued building the foundations required for our long-term growth strategy,” said Mark Widmar, chief executive officer, First Solar, as quoted in a company press release. “Even as we maintained a highly selective approach to bookings, we expanded manufacturing capacity by commissioning our Alabama facility and progressed construction of our new Louisiana facility, established the infrastructure we anticipate will accelerate innovation with a new R&D center in Ohio, and produced and shipped a historic volume of modules.”
In short, it may be worth throwing a few dollars at FSLR with recent momentum.
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Written by Ian Cooper