Analyst Starts First Solar (FSLR) at Sell with $90 Price Target
FSLR Hot Sheet
Rating Summary:7 Buy, 21 Hold, 7 Sell
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Up: 16 | Down: 7 | New: 23
Hapoalim Securities initiates coverage on First Solar (Nasdaq: FSLR) with a Sell rating and $90 price target.
The firm calls First Solar "a high-quality solar name, with far less implied risk than its crystalline PV peers..." but believes that a much "better entry point will emerge once the dust (ie, estimate revisions) has settled." Hapoalim points out such positives as a "first-mover advantage" in the low-cost thin-film space and a 4GW backlog with orders through 2012, valued at $6.3 billion, but feels that headwinds moving forward will outweigh these strengths.
Hapoalim cites negatives at First Solar including:
Notably, Hapoalim calls yesterday's 24% rise in shares of First Solar mostly due to a "short squeeze, rather than 'real' investor interest." With the stock trading around $140.78 today, the firm's price target represents potential price depreciation of about 36% from current levels.
First Solar, Inc. designs, manufactures, and sells solar electric power modules using a proprietary thin film semiconductor technology.
The firm calls First Solar "a high-quality solar name, with far less implied risk than its crystalline PV peers..." but believes that a much "better entry point will emerge once the dust (ie, estimate revisions) has settled." Hapoalim points out such positives as a "first-mover advantage" in the low-cost thin-film space and a 4GW backlog with orders through 2012, valued at $6.3 billion, but feels that headwinds moving forward will outweigh these strengths.
Hapoalim cites negatives at First Solar including:
- adverse foreign exchange shifts as the Euro moves in-line with the dollar
- forward contract risk, specifically in Germany
- an average selling price reset in Q109
- start-up costs related to a capacity ramp in Malaysia during FY09
- less disclosure recently; the report specifically mentions an unexpected analyst day delay
- headwinds in the broader solar market, "including module oversupply and a much higher risk premium for project financing, meaning higher costs in '09..."
Notably, Hapoalim calls yesterday's 24% rise in shares of First Solar mostly due to a "short squeeze, rather than 'real' investor interest." With the stock trading around $140.78 today, the firm's price target represents potential price depreciation of about 36% from current levels.
First Solar, Inc. designs, manufactures, and sells solar electric power modules using a proprietary thin film semiconductor technology.
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