First Solar... First Cheer, Then Dump (FSLR)

First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) is out with earnings today, and there is nothing great and nothing awful to report in here.  For its fourth quarter, revenues were $641.3 million, up from $480.9 million sequentially and up from $433.7 million a year ago.  Net income was $1.65 EPS and $141.6 million.  That is down sequentially but up from a year ago.  Thomson Reuters had revenue expectations of $581.4 million and $1.52 EPS.  We had noted a significant sentiment change.  We first saw shares rise 1%, but now shares are down in the after-hours.

This also marked the year-end for 2009.  Net income for the year was $640.1 million or $7.53 EPS versus $348.3 million or $4.24 EPS for 2008.

The guidance is where First Solar gets tricky.  For 2010, sales are expected to be $2.7 to $2.9 billion.  Thomson Reuters is at $2.73 billion.  Earnings are expected to be $6.05 to $6.85 EPS versus Thomson Reuters consensus of $6.37 EPS.

Total cap-ex for 2010 was put at $500 to $550 million, and the company expects to generate $730 to $790 million of operating cash flow and $180 to $290 million of free cash flow for the year.

The stock closed up 1.67% at $126.29 today, marking the fifth straight rise in the stock.  Shares initially popped up on the news to over $127 in after-hours, but now it looks like shares are trading down around $120.00 in the after-hours session.  At 4:20 PM EST there have been 375,000 shares in the after-hours session and the last seen print was $120.80.

First Solar ended the quarter with over $784 million in cash and marketable securities combined, and then listed $329.6 million in long-term marketable securities.

JON C. OGG