First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) Price Target Cut to $260.00 by Analysts at Wells Fargo & Company

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) had its price objective cut by investment analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $313.00 to $260.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the solar cell manufacturer’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price would indicate a potential upside of 52.41% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on shares of First Solar from $197.00 to $169.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of First Solar from $260.00 to $251.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 30th. Truist Financial upgraded shares of First Solar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $229.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of First Solar from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Finally, Argus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $275.00 price objective on shares of First Solar in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $257.33.

First Solar Price Performance

NASDAQ:FSLR traded down $6.30 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $170.59. 1,124,585 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,342,071. First Solar has a 12-month low of $165.86 and a 12-month high of $320.95. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $189.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $216.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.50, a PEG ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 1.80.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The solar cell manufacturer reported $5.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.67 by $0.63. The company had revenue of $1.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. First Solar had a return on equity of 18.02% and a net margin of 32.47%. The firm’s revenue was down 22.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.24 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that First Solar will post 17.63 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Solar

In other First Solar news, EVP Samantha L. Sloan sold 127 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.95, for a total transaction of $28,314.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 2,018 shares in the company, valued at $449,913.10. The trade was a 5.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, General Counsel Jason E. Dymbort sold 3,700 shares of First Solar stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.38, for a total value of $922,706.00. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 5,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,402,513.12. This trade represents a 39.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 16,681 shares of company stock worth $3,756,286. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FSLR. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in First Solar in the 2nd quarter valued at $3,310,298,000. ABS Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First Solar in the second quarter valued at about $1,297,780,000. Hill City Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of First Solar during the second quarter worth about $620,133,555. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Solar by 7.0% in the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,535,836 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $362,396,000 after buying an additional 100,694 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in First Solar by 4.5% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,305,471 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $257,441,000 after acquiring an additional 56,300 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.08% of the company’s stock.

Key First Solar News

Here are the key news stories impacting First Solar this week:

• Positive Sentiment: First Solar reported third-quarter adjusted earnings of $5.30 per share, above the roughly $4.64–$4.67 analyst consensus and up from $4.24 a year earlier. Cost controls and strong margins helped produce the earnings beat. First Solar Tops Q3 Earnings Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: The company authorized a $500 million share-repurchase program, which could support per-share earnings and signal management’s confidence in the long-term business outlook. First Solar Announces Third Quarter Results and Buyback
• Positive Sentiment: First Solar signed a non-exclusive U.S. patent licensing agreement with CubicPV covering perovskite technology, potentially expanding its future solar-product development options. First Solar and CubicPV Patent Licensing Agreement
• Positive Sentiment: Needham maintained a “buy” rating, although it reduced its price target to $236 from $303, leaving substantial implied upside from recent trading levels.
• Neutral Sentiment: First Solar inaugurated the first phase of its South Carolina facility. The approximately $330 million project is expected to reach 3.4 gigawatts of annual capacity after its second phase is completed in 2027, strengthening domestic manufacturing capacity but requiring significant investment. First Solar South Carolina Facility
• Negative Sentiment: Third-quarter revenue fell 22.8% year over year to $1.23 billion, missing the $1.29 billion consensus. Management also cut its 2026 outlook as customer decisions were delayed and demand weakened, overshadowing the EPS beat. FSLR Q3 Earnings Call Highlights
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts responded by lowering estimates and price targets. GLJ Research downgraded FSLR to “hold” with a $161 target, while Bernstein cut its target to $169 and retained an “underperform” rating. Higher interest rates also remain a risk for solar-project economics.

First Solar Company Profile

First Solar, Inc is a vertically integrated solar technology and manufacturing company that designs, manufactures and sells photovoltaic (PV) solar modules. Its modules use advanced thin-film semiconductor technology based on cadmium telluride (CdTe), rather than the crystalline-silicon technology used by most solar manufacturers. The company serves utility-scale solar developers, commercial and industrial customers, and other large-scale energy users.

Founded in 1999 and headquartered in Tempe, Arizona, First Solar operates research and development, manufacturing and recycling facilities in the United States and internationally.