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First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) +2.1% in Thursday’s trading as BMO Capital upgraded its rating to Outperform from Market Perform with a $237 price target, saying the stock’s “unwarranted” decline following the company’s analyst day provides a particularly attractive entry point.
BMO analyst Ameet Thakkar said he believes First Solar’s (FSLR) consensus 2024-26 estimates are too low while remaining focused on earnings power in 2027 and beyond, where the company is not fully sold out.
But given First Solar’s (FSLR) stock price slump and even using BMO’s conservative assumptions for declines in ASPs and utilization rates, Thakkar sees attractive risk/reward on “normalized” post-2026 adjusted EBITDA.
First Solar (FSLR) is “a winner under the IRA in terms of increasing earnings power (PTCs and capacity growth) and increasing visibility (backlog growth) as developers race to secure domestic solar modules with FSLR the only significant U.S. producer today,” Thakkar wrote.
Despite falling global prices for solar modules, Thakkar said he sees First Solar (FSLR) steadily building sales volumes at ASPs closer to what it has recently achieved.