First Solar sales top estimates, company to open another US factory

By Dharna Bafna

(Reuters) -First Solar, the biggest U.S.-based solar panel maker, beat expectations for third-quarter sales on Thursday, driven by robust demand for its products, sending its shares up more than 5% in extended trading.

Solar-generated electricity is one of the fastest-growing segments of the U.S. energy industry, driven by strong demand from corporations and governments to adopt cleaner sources of power and combat climate change.

First Solar said it would establish a new 3.7 GW manufacturing facility in the U.S., with production expected to start at the end of 2026 and ramp up through the first half of 2027.

The factory will finish products started at the company's overseas facilities, helping First Solar products achieve President Donald Trump's goal of reducing U.S. reliance on foreign-made goods.

"This activity places us uniquely at the intersection of several of the administration's key priorities, including those related to domestic manufacturing job creation, American energy and energy affordability, and serving among the generation solutions that enable the U.S. to win the artificial intelligence race against China," CEO Mark Widmar said on a conference call with investors.

The company reported a profit of $455.9 million, or $4.24 per share, for the third quarter, up from $341.87 million, or $3.18 per share, a year earlier.

However First Solar lowered its current-year sales forecast.

It now expects annual sales to be between $4.95 billion and $5.2 billion in 2025, compared with its prior view of $4.9 billion to $5.7 billion.

The change in forecast reflects "reduced international volumes sold due to customer terminations, partially offset by termination payments", the company said on a conference call.

The company sued a solar division of Great Britain's BP last month for breach of contract, according to executives and court documents. This reduced First Solar's backlog of solar modules by 6.6 gigawatts (GW) at a total transaction price of $1.9 billion.

First Solar also lowered the top end of its forecast range for volumes sold to 17.4 GW from 19.3 GW, while keeping the low end unchanged at 16.7 GW.

The company reported net sales of $1.6 billion for the three months ended September 30, above analysts' estimates of $1.56 billion, as per data compiled by LSEG.

(Reporting by Dharna Bafna in Bengaluru and Nichola Groom in Los Angeles; Editing by Maju Samuel and Stephen Coates)

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