First Solar Predicts 3 GW Of Shipments For 2016

8 years ago Joshua S Hill
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First Solar, one of the world’s premier solar PV manufacturers, expects to ship between 2.9 and 3.0 GW worth of product in 2016, according to new financial guidance.

The US-based PV manufacturer published its full year 2016 guidance on Wednesday, a month after it reported yet another record-breaking third quarter of growth and sales. First Solar finished the third quarter of 2015 with record sales of $1.27 billion, up 42% on Q2’15, and is expected to finish 2015 with total shipments between 2.8 and 2.9 GW.

“We had tremendous execution in the third quarter from both a financial and bookings perspective,” said Jim Hughes, CEO of First Solar, November. “We have now exceeded our book-to-bill target for the year, booked over 1 GWdc of volume with deliveries after 2016, achieved strong quarterly earnings and have significantly raised our full year earnings guidance. We remain confident in our long term strategy and our ability to execute successfully.”

And these highlights are expected to only continue through 2016, according to First Solar’s newly published guidance.

First Solar expects net sales of between $3.9 and $4.1 billion, with solar power systems net sales expected to account for 90% to 95% of the total, with third party module sales making up the remainder. Earnings per share are expected to be in the range of $4.00 and $4.50 per share, which includes a $200 million gain from the expected sale of an equity method investment, as well as First Solar’s share of its yieldco, 8point3 Energy Partners — formed in conjunction with SunPower — earnings.

As of writing, however, shares of First Solar have tanked in after hours trading, down 9.43% to $53.30, on news of the guidance. (SunPower shares have also dropped somewhat in after hours trading.)

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Joshua S Hill

I'm a Christian, a nerd, a geek, and I believe that we're pretty quickly directing planet-Earth into hell in a handbasket! I also write for Fantasy Book Review (.co.uk), and can be found writing articles for a variety of other sites. Check me out at about.me for more.

Joshua S Hill has 4403 posts and counting. See all posts by Joshua S Hill

4 thoughts on “First Solar Predicts 3 GW Of Shipments For 2016”

  • Kraylin
    December 10, 2015 at 5:33 pm
    Permalink

    You have to love the stock market. Unless I missed something that sounded like all good news followed by a 9% drop… Good news is it sounds like a whole lot of solar is getting built and will continue to be in 2016.

    • Good time to buy?

      • Michael G
        December 11, 2015 at 1:42 am
        Permalink

        That’s called “catching falling knives” on Wall St.

  • Wait! expect 2015 to be 2.8-2.9 and the big news 2016 2.9-3.0. That is only ~3% growth, with price per watt dropping. They look to be on the edge of problems. For sure losing market share.

Comments are closed.