Yieldco Venture Hammers First Solar Earnings; Caterpillar Deal Boosts Spirits

Like its yieldco partner SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWR), First Solar’s results were telegraphed when the two companies announced in late February the formation of a joint venture yieldco called 8point3. Rather than selling off projects once they were completed, the two companies held on to them and will use some or all of them to seed assets to the yieldco.

The company said it expects second-quarter sales of $750 million to $800 million and EPS of $0.45 to $0.55. Cash flow from operations is forecast as a loss of $250 million to $350 million.

Analysts are looking for second-quarter EPS of $0.40 on sales of $779.65 million, as well as full-year EPS of $3.14 and revenues of $3.46 billion.

ALSO READ: Over Half of Dow Stocks Outyield 30-Year Treasury Bond

The company did have some good news however. Industrial giant Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) and First Solar announced a strategic alliance to develop an integrated solar PV solution for microgrid applications. First Solar will design and manufacture a pre-engineered turnkey package for use in remote microgrid applications, such as small communities and mine sites. The package will feature Cat-branded solar panels manufactured by First Solar and will include a balance of system components.

Caterpillar will exclusively sell and support the integrated solution through its worldwide Cat dealer network, along with its current offerings of generator sets and energy storage. Caterpillar expects to start marketing the new microgrid solution in the Asia Pacific, Africa and Latin America regions, beginning in the second half of 2015.

The deal with Caterpillar is good one for First Solar, provided that Cat’s dealer network can be persuaded actually to sell the solar microgrid systems. Changes like this are not always easy for a sales force to assimilate. Still, it is a positive for First Solar, as is the joint venture with SunPower. Had at least some of the costs of the yieldco not already been baked into expectations, Thursday’s hammering of the stock price would have been much worse.

First Solar shares traded down about 3.8% t0 $57.38 after hours on Thursday, in a 52-week range of $39.18 to $73.78. Thomson Reuters had a consensus analysts’ price target of around $64.60 before the report.

ALSO READ: Apple’s Clean Energy Footprint Grows on China Deal With SunPower