Lazard Hikes First Solar Target (FSLR)

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By Douglas A. McIntyre Published
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There is an interesting call after First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) blew past earnings expectations and guidance today.  Lazard Capital Markets alternative energy analyst, Sanjay Shrestha, has reiterated his BUY rating on the stock.  But his target has been raised to $300.00 from $350.00.

Shrestha noted that its output translates to a throughput increase to 45MW per line, up from 44MW in 4Q07, suggesting capacity of 1,035MW by year-end 2009.

He believes that First Solar has $6.4 billion of total volume to be shipped under long-term contracts and it additionally has a 7.5MW order with SCE in Blythe, California, pending CPC.  Considering a factory cost ramp, efficiency/throughput gains, and lower cost/watt in Malaysia, Shrestha said he is raising 2008-2010 estimates.

This new $350 higher target represents a 40x multiple on recently raised 2010 estimates of $10.00, discounted back 15% for one year.

Interestingly enough, Shrestha’s target of $350 is well under some other analyst targets out there.

Jon C. Ogg
April 30, 2008

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About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.

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