First Solar Sales Weakness to Drag on Peers

The sales gain was said to be primarily due to increased revenue recognition for the Topaz project and from higher third-party module sales. Cash and Marketable Securities at the end of 2012 came to $1 billion and its cash flow from operations was $328 million in the fourth quarter.

First Solar gave guidance for sales of $650 to $750 million with 25% to 27% gross margin, and earnings were put in a range of $0.70 to $0.90 per share. The estimates from Thomson Reuters are $828.9 million in sales and $0.94 per share in earnings. Other guidance is as follows: OPEX of $90 to $100 million; Operating income of $70 to $100 million; Tax rate between 11% and 13%; Cash flow from Operations of $0 to $100 million; and CAPEX of $80 to $100 million.

Shares of First Solar ran up way too much since the election with gains of 50% before backing off of late. The stock was down 4.2% to $31.36 at the close and the after-hours reaction has shares down over 5% more at $29.55 against a 52-week range of $11.43 to $37.18. The Thomson Reuters consensus price target before the effect of earnings and guidance was $26.45 for First Solar shares.

Solar stocks already saw their great growth and stocks are now a mere fraction of their former highs. It is going to be very difficult for these companies to sell themselves as cheap value stocks.