Tag Archives: scty

First Solar Q1 Sales Expected To Double; 2017 Could Mark EPS Trough

Wall Street’s call for No. 1 solar installer  First Solar ( FSLR ) to exceed $3.50 in 2017 earnings might be “too high,” but that year also could mark a trough for the company’s profit, Deutsche Bank analyst Vishal Shah said Tuesday. Shah reiterated his buy rating — while also cutting his price target to 80 from 86 — on First Solar stock ahead of the company’s Q1 earnings report, due out after the close Wednesday. First Solar’s annual earnings are expected to dip 20% to $4.30 in 2016 and by another 18% to $3.53 in 2017, according to the consensus of 21 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters. But Shah sees the company returning to earnings growth in 2018. “We believe First Solar should be in a position to achieve $4.35-$5 (earnings per share) in 2020 in a base case scenario, or as high as $7.30-$8.50 in 2020 in a bull case scenario,” he wrote in a research report. The company’s EPS jumped 37% in 2015 to $5.37. For Q1, the consensus expects First Solar to report $958.3 million in sales, more than doubling year over year, and 90 cents EPS, swinging from a per-share loss of 60 cents in the year-earlier quarter. Both metrics are seen dipping in Q2. But Shah calls First Solar “a relative safe haven in the cleantech sector,” citing a strong balance sheet and robust near-term outlook. For 2016, First Solar’s earlier guidance called for 8% year-over-year sales growth. The company has a 3-gigawatt backlog for 2017-2020 comprised of 2 GW in system sales and 1 GW in module sales. Recent bookings have shifted in conjunction with First Solar’s earlier guidance for 80% modules and 20% systems in incremental bookings. Shah expects First Solar to book 2 GW-3.5 GW in system business for 2017-2020, while shipping 17 GW of modules into internal systems/third module customers. In early afternoon trading on the stock market today , First Solar stock was up 1%, near 61. Shares are down 8% this year but have fared better than IBD’s 20-company Energy-Solar industry group, which is down 27%. First Solar tops the group in terms of market value, with residential installer SolarCity ( SCTY ) and rival solar developer SunPower ( SPWR ) trailing distantly. Together, First Solar and SunPower sponsor yieldco 8point3 Energy Partners ( CAFD ), fourth in market value.

SolarCity Flames On San Francisco Ordinance; Sunrun Sued

SolarCity ( SCTY ) stock flamed Wednesday, leading shares of rivals Vivint Solar ( VSLR ) and Sunrun ( RUN ), on a San Francisco, Calif., mandate requiring that solar panels be installed on most new construction under 10 stories tall. SolarCity stock rose 7.8% Wednesday. It was up as much as 13%. Shares of Sunrun and Vivint Solar rose a respective 3.6% and 1%. Introduced by San Francisco County Supervisor Scott Wiener, the ordinance requires solar panels or a solar-powered heating system be installed on new residential construction shorter than 10 stories and on new commercial buildings smaller than 2,000 square feet. The SF Board passed the measure unanimously on Tuesday. It goes into effect Jan. 1. Current California law already requires 15% of certain new construction to be “solar ready,” meaning it’s in an unshaded area. Wiener’s legislation builds onto San Francisco’s already burgeoning green efforts. In 2004, the city introduced a choice aggregation program dubbed CleanPowerSF. Sunrun Faces Four New Class-Action Lawsuits Over IPO In other solar news, Sunrun became the subject of four new class-action lawsuits on Tuesday alleging the No. 2 residential installer by market value “negligently prepared” its IPO, according to a claim by the Shareholders Association. The lawsuits stem, in part, from Nevada regulators’ decision in December to cut net-metering payments to solar customers. More recently, the Public Utilities Commission opted to not grandfather in existing customers under the old rates. New York, N.Y., law firm Levi & Korinsky alleges Sunrun’s IPO contained materially false or misleading statements related to its historical operating costs “by not disclosing the fixed grid costs being borne for it by public utilities where net metering-programs were being employed.” The claim further alleges Sunrun is charging well above wholesale rates for electricity sold to net-metering customers, didn’t have customers dispersed across 15 states and said “Sunrun’s ability to continue convincing customers to sign 20-year contracts was in jeopardy.” Sunrun went public in August 2015, opening below its 14 IPO price. Shares closed Wednesday at 7.27, 48% off Sunrun’s initial price.

SpaceX Makes History As It Sticks Landing On Floating Barge

Following the successful launch of of its Dragon capsule to the International Space Station, SpaceX on Friday landed the first-stage booster rocket of its Falcon 9 on a floating barge a few miles off the coast of Florida, a feat never done before. Three previous attempts to stick the landing of its massive booster rocket on a floating barge on the Atlantic Ocean failed. The flawless launch of Falcon 9 occurred on schedule at 4:43 p.m. ET at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 in Florida. It’s the first time SpaceX is returning to the International Space Station to deliver cargo since its last cargo mission in June resulted in failure, when the second-stage booster exploded about 21 miles high, due to a part failure. Tesla Motors ( TSLA ) CEO Elon Musk founded SpaceX. It’s based in Hawthorne, Calif., where Musk also has a Tesla facility. In addition to running Tesla and SpaceX, Musk is chairman of SolarCity ( SCTY ). SpaceX did manage to land the booster rocket on Florida land during a launch in December. But the barge landing is far more difficult, and much more important, if SpaceX is able to reuse its rockets on a regular basis. Reusing rockets will enable SpaceX to lower the cost of its launches. The SpaceX Dragon capsule will carry nearly 7,000 pounds of cargo to the space station.