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First Solar (FSLR) Exceeds Market Returns: Some Facts to Consider

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First Solar (FSLR - Free Report) ended the recent trading session at $167.39, demonstrating a +0.83% swing from the preceding day's closing price. This move outpaced the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.53%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.38%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.25%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the largest U.S. solar company had lost 5.8% over the past month. This has lagged the Oils-Energy sector's gain of 5.88% and the S&P 500's gain of 1.24% in that time.

Analysts and investors alike will be keeping a close eye on the performance of First Solar in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company's earnings report is set to go public on February 25, 2025. In that report, analysts expect First Solar to post earnings of $4.69 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 44.31%. Meanwhile, the latest consensus estimate predicts the revenue to be $1.47 billion, indicating a 26.91% 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. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.

The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.32% higher within the past month. First Solar is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Digging into valuation, First Solar currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 8.18. This expresses a discount compared to the average Forward P/E of 9.96 of its industry.

We can additionally observe that FSLR currently boasts a PEG ratio of 0.19. 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 Solar industry had an average PEG ratio of 0.67 as trading concluded yesterday.

The Solar industry is part of the Oils-Energy sector. Currently, this industry holds a Zacks Industry Rank of 51, positioning it in the top 21% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the vigor of our specific industry groups by computing the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks incorporated in the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Ensure to harness Zacks.com to stay updated with all these stock-shifting metrics, among others, in the next trading sessions.


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