FSLR - Why did First Solar surge today? Planned new plant signals confidence in demand

2023-07-28 16:35:38 ET

First Solar ( NASDAQ: FSLR ) finished Friday's trading +4.8% after beating estimates for Q2 earnings and revenues, and announcing plans for a new manufacturing facility in the U.S. , which investors took as a sign of confidence in demand.

The planned $1.1B plant will produce panels capable of generating 3.5 GW of solar power annually, and would raise the company's total nameplate manufacturing capacity to 14 GW in the U.S. and 25 GW globally by 2026.

CEO Mark Widmar told CNBC the company plans to pick a location for the U.S. site in the next 30 days.

Bank of America's Julien Dumoulin-Smith upgraded First Solar ( FSLR ) to Buy from Neutral with a $283 price target, saying strong Q2 results showed better than expected execution and continued strength in bookings and selling prices.

The Q2 update "cements FSLR's de-risked, above average outlook, contrasting clean tech peer prints [this quarter] which generally reflect higher EPS uncertainty amid an increasingly turbulent macro backdrop," Dumoulin-Smith said.

More on First Solar:

• Financial and valuation comparison to sector peers
• Analysis: First Solar: PEG Ratio Insanely Low, Buy While You Can
• Stock price return: Up 36% YTD, up 153% in the past 12 months

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