Crude
oil prices have been
surging recently, and there is little
sign that the momentum will be
slowing down. Every time crude oil
reaches these types of elevated levels,
it seems that interest in
alternative forms of energy also rise.
Solar is one type of alternative energy
that gets particular attention, and
should be on investors' radar going
into 2014.
First Solar, Inc. misses by $0.10, misses on revenue
- First Solar, Inc. (FSLR): Q4 EPS of $0.89 misses by $0.10.
- Revenue of $768M (-28.9% Y/Y) misses by $197.38M.
- In addition to missing Q4 estimates, First Solar (FSLR) is guiding for Q1 revenue of $800M-$900M and EPS of $0.50-$0.60, largely below a consensus of $898.3M and $0.84. Operating cash flow is expected to be in a range of -$300M to -$400M. No full-year guidance has been given.
- 443.7MW of solar modules were produced, +4% Q/Q and -13% Y/Y. Conversion efficiency +10 bps Q/Q and +50 bps Y/Y to 13.4%, cost/watt fell by $0.03 Q/Q and $0.12 Y/Y to $0.56.
- Gross margin -420 bps Q/Q and -270 bps Y/Y to 24.6%. SG&A spend +4% Y/Y to $65.7M, R&D +22% to $38.4M. Free cash flow was $137M, down from $284M in Q3 and $253M a year ago.
- Expected future module shipments were at 2.7GW at the end of Q4, flat Q/Q and up 100MW Y/Y. Expected future systems/module revenue was at $7.5B, down $300M Q/Q and $500M Y/Y. But potential opportunities rose to 10.6GW from 7.7GW.
- CC at 4:30PM ET. Q4 results, PR, datasheet, slides.
Solar Stocks List
Solar Pure Plays:
•SunPower Corporation (Nasdaq: SPWR)
•First Solar Inc. (Nasdaq: FSLR)
•Evergreen Solar (Nasdaq: ESLR)
•SunTech Power Holdings (NYSE: STP)
•Trina Solar (NYSE: TSL)
•Solarfun Power Holdings (Nasdaq: SOLF)
•Canadian Solar Inc. (Nasdaq: CSIQ)
•JA Solar Holdings (Nasdaq: JASO)
•China Sunergy (Nasdaq: CSUN)
•LDK Solar (NYSE: LDK)
•ReneSola Ltd. (NYSE: SOL)
Smaller companies with Solar exposure:
•Hoku Scientific (Nasdaq: HOKU)
•Daystar Technologies (Nasdaq: DSTI)
•Spire Corporation (Nasdaq: SPIR)
Solar Energy ETFs:
•Market Vectors Solar Energy ETF (KWT)
•Claymore/MAC Global Solar Energy (TAN)
Bigger companies with Solar exposure:
•MEMC Electronics (NYSE: WFR)
•General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE)
•Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA)
•British Petroleum (NYSE: BP)
•Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS-B)
•Kyocera (NYSE: KYO)
•Applied Materials (Nasdaq: AMAT)
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