In the latest close session, First Solar (FSLR) was down 1.53% at $200.35. The stock's performance was behind the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.02%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.63%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 1.23%.
Coming into today, shares of the largest U.S. solar company had gained 3.77% in the past month. In that same time, the Oils-Energy sector gained 5.11%, while the S&P 500 gained 0.63%.
Market participants will be closely following the financial results of First Solar in its upcoming release. The company is expected to report EPS of $2.86, up 46.67% from the prior-year quarter. At the same time, our most recent consensus estimate is projecting a revenue of $1.05 billion, reflecting a 23.82% rise from the equivalent quarter last year.
Regarding the entire year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates forecast earnings of $17.4 per share and revenue of $5.11 billion, indicating changes of +22.45% and -2.19%, respectively, compared to the previous year.
It's also important for investors to be aware of any recent modifications to analyst estimates for First Solar. Such recent modifications usually signify the changing landscape of near-term business trends. Consequently, upward revisions in estimates express analysts' positivity towards the business operations and its ability to generate profits.
Our research suggests that these changes in estimates have a direct relationship with upcoming stock price performance. To capitalize on this, we've crafted the Zacks Rank, a unique model that incorporates these estimate changes and offers a practical rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, stretching from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has a noteworthy track record of outperforming, validated by third-party audits, with stocks rated #1 producing an average annual return of +25% since the year 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has shifted 6.34% downward. First Solar is holding a Zacks Rank of #5 (Strong Sell) right now.
From a valuation perspective, First Solar is currently exchanging hands at a Forward P/E ratio of 11.7. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 15.71, so one might conclude that First Solar is trading at a discount comparatively.
We can additionally observe that FSLR currently boasts a PEG ratio of 0.43. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. As the market closed yesterday, the Solar industry was having an average PEG ratio of 0.67.
The Solar industry is part of the Oils-Energy sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 199, putting it in the bottom 19% 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.
Make sure to utilize Zacks.com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.
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First Solar, Inc. (FSLR): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).