Yahoo Finance First Solar (FSLR) Stock Slides as Market Rises: Facts to Know Before You Trade
First Solar (FSLR) ended the recent trading session at $256.74, demonstrating a -1.74% swing from the preceding day's closing price. The stock fell short of the S&P 500, which registered a gain of 0.09% for the day. Elsewhere, the Dow saw a downswing of 0.1%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq appreciated by 0.16%.
Heading into today, shares of the largest U.S. solar company had lost 5.59% over the past month, lagging the Oils-Energy sector's loss of 0.69% and the S&P 500's gain of 2.83% in that time.
Investors will be eagerly watching for the performance of First Solar in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company's earnings per share (EPS) are projected to be $2.81, reflecting a 51.89% increase from the same quarter last year. Alongside, our most recent consensus estimate is anticipating revenue of $980.77 million, indicating a 20.98% upward movement from the same quarter last year.
For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates project earnings of $13.59 per share and a revenue of $4.53 billion, demonstrating changes of +75.58% and +36.37%, respectively, from the preceding year.
It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for First Solar. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. Therefore, positive revisions in estimates convey analysts' confidence in the company's business performance and profit potential.
Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. To exploit this, we've formed the Zacks Rank, a quantitative model that includes these estimate changes and presents a viable 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 last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.32% higher. Right now, First Solar possesses a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
With respect to valuation, First Solar is currently being traded at a Forward P/E ratio of 19.23. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 11.07, which means First Solar is trading at a premium to the group.
Investors should also note that FSLR has a PEG ratio of 0.34 right now. 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 average PEG ratio for the Solar industry stood at 0.47 at the close of the market yesterday.
The Solar industry is part of the Oils-Energy sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 222, this industry ranks in the bottom 12% of all industries, numbering over 250.
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.
Be sure to use Zacks.com to monitor all these stock-influencing metrics, and more, throughout the forthcoming trading sessions.
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First Solar, Inc. (FSLR) : Free Stock Analysis Report
