First Solar slides as outlook falls short on Trump-era permitting delays

By Dharna Bafna

Feb 24 (Reuters) - ‌First Solar, ​the ​largest U.S.-based solar panel maker, projected annual sales below Wall Street estimates, citing customer headwinds ‌such as permitting delays under the Donald ⁠Trump administration, sending its shares down nearly 14%.

The company also anticipates ‌a $125 million to $135 million ‌impact from tariffs in 2026, CFO Alex Bradley said in a post-earnings call.

"We've kind of run ​at a very low utilization rate to try to sort of buy some time to see ⁠how these tariffs ultimately get played out," the company said, adding that ​the decline in gross margin was driven by tariff-related costs and underutilization linked to curtailments ​at its Series 6 international ‌facilities.

"Many of our customers continue to face both regulatory and commercial challenges, including federal ⁠permitting approval delays," First Solar said.

Net sales, however, came in at $1.68 billion for the quarter ended December 31, ⁠up about 11.1% from the year-ago period, driven by an increase ​in the volume of modules sold in the quarter.

The Arizona-based company now expects 2026 net sales to be in the ‌range of $4.9 billion to $5.2 billion. Analysts, on average, were expecting $6.12 billion, according to data ‌compiled by LSEG.

First Solar reported net income for ⁠the fourth quarter of $4.84 ‌per share, compared ​with $3.65 a year ago.

(Reporting by Dharna Bafna in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona and Sherry ‌Jacob-Phillips)

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