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First Solar (FSLR) Stock Drops Despite Market Gains: Important Facts to Note

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First Solar (FSLR - Free Report) closed the latest trading day at $151.50, indicating a -0.04% change from the previous session's end. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.43%. Elsewhere, the Dow saw an upswing of 0.19%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq appreciated by 0.71%.

Shares of the largest U.S. solar company have depreciated by 16.24% over the course of the past month, underperforming the Oils-Energy sector's loss of 1.54% and the S&P 500's loss of 2.1%.

Analysts and investors alike will be keeping a close eye on the performance of First Solar in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company is expected to report EPS of $2.13, up 563.04% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $903.96 million, up 43.73% from the prior-year quarter.

For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates project earnings of $7.67 per share and a revenue of $3.54 billion, demonstrating changes of +1970.73% and +35.22%, respectively, from the preceding year.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for First Solar. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Our research suggests that these changes in estimates have a direct relationship with upcoming stock price performance. To utilize this, we have created the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model that integrates these estimate changes and provides a functional 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 no change in the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. Currently, First Solar is carrying a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Digging into valuation, First Solar currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 19.76. This expresses a premium compared to the average Forward P/E of 16.48 of its industry.

The Solar industry is part of the Oils-Energy sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 90, which puts it in the top 36% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank is ordered from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.


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