First Solar misses Q4 profit estimates, but revenue better-than-feared; stock up

Investing.com -- First Solar Inc (NASDAQ:FSLR) reported fourth-quarter earnings below Wall Street estimates on Tuesday but revenue came in better than feared. 

Shares of First Solar climbed around 2% in premarket trading Wednesday. 

The solar panel maker posted earnings per share of $3.65 for the quarter ended Dec. 31, missing analysts’ average estimate of $4.83.

Revenue for the quarter was $1.5 billion, slightly ahead of analysts’ expectations of $1.49 billion.

First Solar expects earnings per share of $17.00 to $20.00 for 2025, compared with the consensus estimate of $20.17. The company forecast full-year revenue of $5.3 billion to $5.8 billion, versus expectations of $5.52 billion.

FSLR pointed to significant near-term uncertainty in the current policy landscape and a limited ability to offset terminated or reassigned deliveries as key factors behind its wide full-year 2025 guidance, which is also weighted toward the second half of the year.

"FSLR introduced its FY25 guide that is wider than in previous years, due to significant uncertainty in policy and tariffs," Wolfe Research analysts said.

"This had led some customers to delay deliveries into the following year, while others have opted to shift deliveries within the same year, contributing to a potential back-end weighting of sales. We view as an overhang that can persist throughout the year," they added.

"We remain on the sidelines," Wolfe Research analysts said.

Pratyush Thakur contributed to this report.