FSLR

First Solar

$171.25

-2.04%
Oct 22, 2026
Bobby Quantitative Model
First Solar, Inc. designs and manufactures cadmium telluride thin-film solar photovoltaic modules and provides utility-scale solar project development services, operating within the global solar energy and renewable power equipment industry. As the world's largest thin-film module manufacturer, the company is distinct for its non-silicon technology, its heavy U.S. manufacturing footprint (Ohio, with capacity in Vietnam, Malaysia, and India), and its positioning as a primary beneficiary of domestic content incentives under U.S. clean-energy policy. The current investor narrative is sharply divided: bulls point to record gross margins, a massive contracted backlog, and a forward earnings multiple in the single digits, while bears focus on a revenue decline in the most recent quarter, a steep year-to-date share-price drawdown, and policy risk tied to the durability of U.S. manufacturing tax credits. Recent commentary has framed First Solar against competitors such as Canadian Solar, whose weak results highlighted sector headwinds, and GE Vernova, which some analysts argue offers superior AI-and-electrification-driven growth, underscoring the debate over whether First Solar's policy-supported earnings power is sustainable.

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BobbyInvestment Opinion: Should I buy FSLR Today?

Rating: Buy (speculative, policy-contingent). The core thesis is that FSLR is priced as if its domestic-content margins are about to disappear, yet it generates $1.50B in TTM free cash flow, carries debt-to-equity of 0.052, and trades at 7.33x forward earnings against a $274.77 consensus target (~59% upside) with a 1.81 Buy consensus from 30 analysts.

Supporting evidence: (1) forward PE of 7.33x versus trailing 18.33x implies the market is already discounting an EPS step-up to $31.25; (2) gross margin expanded to 57.28% in Q2 2026 from 45.56% a year earlier, with operating margin at 42.64%; (3) TTM free cash flow of $1.50B yields ~5.4% on the $28.0B market cap; (4) even the lowest analyst target ($191) is 10.6% above the $172.64 price, and the PEG ratio of 1.01 is reasonable for a company with this earnings trajectory. The main caveat is that revenue is contracting (-3.73% YoY), so the earnings growth is margin-led, not volume-led.

Risks and conditions: the thesis breaks if (a) U.S. manufacturing credits are materially reduced, (b) Q3 bookings fail to replenish the backlog after the Q4 2025-to-Q2 2026 revenue decline, or (c) gross margin falls back below 45%. This Buy would downgrade to Hold if gross margin drops under 45% for two consecutive quarters, and to Sell if forward EPS estimates are cut below $20. Conversely, confirmation of policy stability plus gross margin holding above 50% would justify adding. Valuation verdict: undervalued relative to its own forward earnings and analyst targets, but fairly-to-richly valued relative to its trailing results — the discount is real only if the policy-supported margin is durable.

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FSLR 12-Month Price Forecast

The risk/reward is skewed favorably: at $172.64, FSLR sits just 2.3% above its 52-week low of $168.60 while the analyst average target of $274.77 implies ~59% upside, and even the lowest target ($191) is above spot. Fundamentals support the asymmetry — 57.3% gross margins, 40% net margins, $1.5B TTM free cash flow, and near-zero leverage — but the entire thesis hinges on the durability of policy-driven margins, which is why confidence is medium rather than high. The stock's -37.07% YTD decline and -49.0 point relative strength gap versus SPY show the market has already priced substantial policy risk, limiting further downside if credits survive. I would upgrade to high confidence if gross margin holds above 50% for another quarter with revenue stabilizing, and downgrade to bearish if forward EPS estimates are cut below $20 or gross margin falls under 45%.

Historical Price
Current Price $171.25
Average Target $257.50
High Target $402.00
Low Target $150.00

Wall Street consensus

Most Wall Street analysts maintain a constructive view on First Solar's 12-month outlook, with a consensus price target around $273.67 and implied upside of +59.8% versus the current price.

Average Target

$273.67

0 analysts

Implied Upside

+59.8%

vs. current price

Analyst Count

—

covering this stock

Price Range

$191 - $402

Analyst target range

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Bulls vs Bears: FSLR Investment Factors

The bear case currently has stronger price-action evidence (down 37% YTD, -49 points of relative strength, trading near the $168.60 52-week low), but the bull case has stronger fundamental evidence: 57.3% gross margins, 40% net margins, $1.5B TTM free cash flow, near-zero debt, and a 7.3x forward PE against a $274.77 consensus target. The single most important tension is whether FSLR's margin structure is a durable reflection of domestic-content economics or a policy-subsidized peak that the market is correctly discounting. If the forward EPS estimate of $31.25 proves achievable, the stock is dramatically undervalued; if credits erode and EPS normalizes toward the trailing $9.42 implied by the 18.3x trailing PE, the current price is fair at best. Resolution of this debate — likely via policy news or Q3 bookings — will determine whether the 59% analyst upside is realized or the 52-week low is retested.

Bullish

  • Forward PE of 7.3x is deeply discounted: At $172.64, FSLR trades at just 7.33x forward earnings versus an 18.33x trailing PE, implying the market expects EPS to roughly double. Analyst consensus EPS of $31.25 for the forward period against a $274.77 average target implies ~59% upside, a gap rarely seen in a profitable, cash-generative manufacturer.
  • Gross margins expanded to 57.3%: Q2 2026 gross margin reached 57.28% ($605.0M gross profit on $1,056.2M revenue), up sharply from 45.56% in Q2 2025 and 40.78% in Q1 2025. Operating margin of 42.6% in Q2 2026 and net margin of 40.0% demonstrate pricing power and the value of domestic-content credits flowing through the P&L.
  • Fortress balance sheet with near-zero leverage: Debt-to-equity is just 0.052 and the current ratio is 2.67, giving FSLR one of the cleanest balance sheets in the solar sector. TTM free cash flow of $1.50B against a $28.0B market cap implies a ~5.4% FCF yield, supporting capacity expansion without dilution.
  • Analyst consensus remains Buy: 30 analysts carry a recommendation mean of 1.81 (Buy) with an average target of $274.77, ranging from $191 to $402. Even the low target of $191 sits ~10.6% above the current $172.64 price, suggesting the sell-side views the drawdown as overdone.

Bearish

  • Severe relative underperformance vs. market: FSLR is down 37.07% YTD versus the S&P 500's +11.93%, a relative strength gap of -49.0 percentage points. One-year relative strength of -42.93% and a max drawdown of -45.92% signal persistent institutional distribution rather than a simple pullback.
  • Revenue is contracting: Q2 2026 revenue of $1,056.2M declined 3.73% YoY from $1,097.2M, and is down sharply from $1,682.8M in Q4 2025. A company priced for growth delivering negative top-line growth undermines the forward-EPS doubling implied by the 7.3x forward multiple.
  • Policy-dependent earnings power: The 57.3% gross margin is heavily reliant on U.S. domestic-content manufacturing credits. Any legislative erosion of these incentives would compress margins toward the 38-40% levels seen in 2024-2025 quarters, gutting the forward EPS estimate of $31.25 that anchors the bull case.
  • High beta amplifies downside: Beta of 1.794 means FSLR moves ~1.8x the market; in a risk-off rotation it underperforms violently, as the -9.65% one-month decline against SPY's +1.22% demonstrates. Short ratio of 4.56 days-to-cover indicates meaningful bearish positioning remains.

FSLR Technical Analysis

Beta

1.79

1.79x market volatility

Max Drawdown

-46.2%

Largest decline past year

52-Week Range

$169-$321

Price range past year

Annual Return

-23.3%

Cumulative gain past year

PeriodFSLR ReturnS&P 500
1m-14.7%-1.2%
3m-15.6%+3.4%
6m-11.6%+7.0%
1y-23.3%+14.4%
ytd-37.6%+12.0%

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FSLR Fundamental Analysis

Quarterly Revenue

$1.1B

2026-06

Revenue YoY Growth

-3.7%

YoY Comparison

Gross Margin

57.3%

Latest Quarter

Free Cash Flow

$1.5B

Last 12 Months

Revenue & Net Income Trends (2 Years)

Revenue Breakdown

Solar Module

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Valuation Analysis: Is FSLR Overvalued?

PE

18.3x

Latest Quarter

vs. Historical

Low-End

5-Year PE Range 12x~33x

vs. Industry Avg

N/A

Industry PE ~N/A*

EV/EBITDA

11.9x

Enterprise Value Multiple

Investment Risk Disclosure

Financial and operational risks center on margin durability and revenue concentration. The 57.28% Q2 2026 gross margin is roughly 17 points above the 40.78% recorded in Q1 2025 and 18 points above Q4 2025's 39.54%, meaning a large share of current profitability is policy-driven rather than structural. Revenue fell 3.73% YoY to $1,056.2M in Q2 2026 and dropped 37% sequentially from Q4 2025's $1,682.8M, showing the top line is lumpy and backlog-conversion dependent. Positively, leverage is minimal (D/E 0.052) and liquidity strong (current ratio 2.67), so solvency is not the risk — earnings volatility is. Trailing EPS of $9.42 versus a forward estimate of $31.25 embeds an enormous step-up that leaves little room for execution error.

Market and competitive risks are dominated by valuation compression and policy sensitivity. Beta of 1.794 means FSLR amplifies market moves, and the stock has already fallen 37.07% YTD while SPY rose 11.93%, a -49.0 point relative gap that reflects active de-rating rather than passive drift. The Motley Fool's framing of GE Vernova as the superior AI/electrification play, combined with Canadian Solar's weak Q2 results highlighting sector headwinds, shows capital is rotating away from policy-dependent solar toward AI-power infrastructure. A 5.37x PS ratio and 11.93x EV/EBITDA are not extreme in absolute terms, but they rest on earnings that require the domestic-content regime to persist. Any legislative challenge to manufacturing credits would trigger simultaneous multiple and estimate compression.

Worst-case scenario: a policy rollback of U.S. manufacturing credits combines with a bookings slowdown, forcing analysts to cut the $31.25 forward EPS estimate toward the trailing $9.42 run-rate. At that point the 7.3x forward multiple would re-rate toward the trailing 18.3x on lower earnings, or the stock would simply track toward the $168.60 52-week low — only -2.3% from the current $172.64, but the analyst low target of $191 is above spot, meaning the sell-side has not yet priced a true policy-bear case. A realistic adverse outcome is a retest of the 52-week low and a break toward the $150s, implying roughly -13% to -15% from current levels, with the -45.92% max drawdown as the historical template for how far a full de-rating can run.

FAQ

The most severe risk is policy: the 57.28% Q2 2026 gross margin is roughly 17 points above the 40.78% seen in Q1 2025, and that gap is largely attributable to U.S. manufacturing credits — their erosion would gut the $31.25 forward EPS estimate. Second is revenue contraction, with Q2 2026 revenue down 3.73% YoY and 37% below Q4 2025's $1,682.8M, showing the top line is backlog-dependent and lumpy. Third is market/valuation risk: beta of 1.794 and a -49.0 point relative strength gap versus SPY mean the stock amplifies downturns, and the -45.92% max drawdown shows how far a de-rating can run. Fourth is competitive narrative displacement, with capital rotating toward AI-power names like GE Vernova, as highlighted in recent commentary. Financial solvency risk is minimal given debt-to-equity of 0.052 and a current ratio of 2.67.

The 12-month outlook has three scenarios: a base case (50% probability) of $240-275, aligned with the $274.77 analyst average target, assuming margins moderate to 45-50% and revenue stabilizes; a bull case (25%) of $320-402, aligned with the 52-week high of $320.95 and the analyst high of $402, requiring policy clarity and margins above 50%; and a bear case (25%) of $150-191, aligned with the $168.60 52-week low and the analyst low of $191, triggered by credit erosion. The base case is most likely because the stock already trades near its 52-week low while fundamentals remain strong, creating mean-reversion potential without requiring a full policy resolution. The key assumption is that domestic-content credits survive in roughly their current form.

FSLR looks undervalued on forward earnings but only fairly valued on trailing results. The forward PE of 7.33x is less than half the trailing PE of 18.33x, meaning the market expects EPS to roughly double to the $31.25 consensus estimate. On trailing metrics, the 5.37x PS and 11.93x EV/EBITDA are moderate for a company with 40% net margins, and the PEG ratio of 1.01 suggests the growth is reasonably priced. The market is effectively paying a discount because it doubts the durability of policy-supported margins — if those margins hold, the stock is cheap; if they normalize toward 2024-2025 levels, the current price is fair. The 2.94x price-to-book and 13.62x price-to-cash-flow round out a picture of a stock priced for skepticism, not optimism.

From a risk/reward standpoint, FSLR offers an unusually wide gap between price and analyst expectations: the stock trades at $172.64 against a $274.77 average target (~59% upside) and a 1.81 Buy consensus from 30 analysts, with even the lowest target of $191 above the current price. The fundamental support is real — 57.28% gross margin, 40.0% net margin, $1.50B TTM free cash flow, and debt-to-equity of just 0.052. The catch is that these margins depend on U.S. domestic-content credits, and the stock's -37.07% YTD decline shows the market is pricing that risk. It is a good buy for investors with a 12-24 month horizon who accept policy risk and beta of 1.794, but not for capital that cannot withstand a retest of the $168.60 52-week low.

FSLR is better suited to a medium-to-long-term horizon of at least 12-24 months than to short-term trading. The stock's beta of 1.794 and -45.92% max drawdown mean short-term price action is dominated by policy headlines and sector rotation, making tactical entry timing difficult. It pays no dividend (payout ratio 0), so returns depend entirely on earnings realization and multiple re-rating, which requires time for the forward EPS of $31.25 to be proven out. Earnings visibility is moderate — the backlog provides some cover, but the revenue decline from $1,682.8M in Q4 2025 to $1,056.2M in Q2 2026 shows quarterly results are lumpy. A minimum holding period of 12-18 months allows for at least two earnings cycles to validate or refute the margin thesis.