FSLR
FIRST SOLAR, INC.Evidence as of 2026-09-18The desk's Snapshot
3 of 15 open to everyone · members see allRead the full desk report on FSLR
Seven analysts, the debate, the risk review, every claim cited. And the same for every name you hold.
Free plan, no credit card required. Silver opens the full report, $19.99 a month. AI-written · every claim cites a source · Insight, not advice.
Overview · FIRST SOLAR, INC.
First Solar, Inc. provides photovoltaic (PV) solar energy solutions in the United State, Japan, France, Canada, India, Australia, and internationally. The company designs, manufactures, and sells cadmium telluride solar modules that converts sunlight into electricity. It serves developers and operators of systems, utilities, independent power producers, commercial and industrial companies, and other system owners. Th…
Management team
- Mr. Kuntal Kumar Verma · Chief Manufacturing OfficerFind on LinkedIn
- Mr. Georges J. Antoun · Chief Commercial OfficerFind on LinkedIn
- Mr. Markus Gloeckler · Chief Technology OfficerFind on LinkedIn
- Mr. Alexander R. Bradley · Chief Financial OfficerFind on LinkedIn
Start free to see the full management team.
Links open LinkedIn searches, not verified profiles. Team data from our market-data vendor's company profile.
Moneyta sentiment
Where the published evidence leans after the desk debated it, not a rating or a recommendation.
−0.6 on a −2 to +2 scale.
What builds the score
Solid bars are analyst rubric scores; faded bars are computed directly from data. Claims dropped in debate count for nothing; weakened claims count at half weight.
Editor's note
Written after the debate settled. The rest of the page is the evidence behind it.
The evidence balance is Cautious ( -0.6 of a possible +2; was -0.6 before debate) · confidence high. Reported top-line and profitability show a step down into fiscal Q1 2026 (ended 2026-04-24) followed by partial recovery in fiscal Q2 2026 (ended 2026-07-24): revenues moved from $ 1,594,856,000 (three months ended 2025-10-24) to $ 1,044,243,000 (three months ended 2026-04-24) and then to $ 1,056,193,000 (three months ended 2026-06-30); gross profit and implied margin rose from $ 610,745,000 ( 38.3 % ) to $ 486,131,000 ( 46.6 % ) and then to $ 605,004,000 ( 57.3 % ) over the same sample.
Operating income and net income mirror that pattern: operating income was $ 466,095,000 (three months ended 2025-10-24), $ 345,303,000 (three months ended 2026-04-24), and $ 450,386,000 (three months ended 2026-06-30); net income and diluted EPS were $ 455,943,000 and $ 4.24, $ 346,619,000 and $ 3.22, then $ 422,569,000 and $ 3.92 respectively. Point-in-time balance-sheet items show cash and equivalents at $ 1,124,740,000 as of 2025-06-30, $ 2,362,979,000 as of 2026-03-31, and $ 1,688,279,000 as of 2026-06-30, while reported long-term noncurrent debt declined from $ 327,972,000 as of 2025-06-30 to $ 237,182,000 as of 2026-03-31 and to $ 0.0 as of 2026-06-30. Valuation and flows in the surviving record show market capitalization using price $ 201.16 and shares outstanding 107,469,788 produces market cap $ 21,618,622,554, trailing twelve-month GAAP EPS $ 14.56 (P/E 13.82), trailing EBITDA $ 1,861,844,000 (EV/EBITDA 10.94) and trailing twelve-month free cash flow negative $ 1,698,635,000.
How this note was made
every stage ran before the note was writtenAnalyst desk
Mercer, Oakes, Nash, Ellis, Yates, Talbot and Archer. The desk: named AI agents, not people. Each reads one slice of the evidence and nothing else (no outside knowledge, no browsing), so every finding traces to a source you can open.
Reads the XBRL figures companies file with the SEC (revenue, margins, income, debt and share count, quarter by quarter) and reports which way the trend is running.
Reported quarterly revenues were $1,594,856,000 for the three months ended 30 September 2025 and fell to $1,044,243,000 for the three months ended 31 March 2026, then were $1,056,193,000 for the three months ended 30 June 2026.
XBRL companyfacts · 0001274494-25-000082Gross profit and implied gross margin moved from $610,745,000 (38.3% of revenue) in the three months ended 30 September 2025 to $486,131,000 (46.6% of revenue) in the three months ended 31 March 2026 and to $605,004,000 (57.3% of revenue) in the three months ended 30 June 2026.
XBRL companyfacts · 0001274494-26-000109Reads the filings themselves, above all the year-over-year diff of Item 1A risk factors: which risks a company added, dropped or quietly reworded since its last annual report.
Which filings the desk reads
The desk reads the annual 10-K in full: its risk factors, and how they changed since last year. Quarterly 10-Qs and event filings (8-Ks, insider Form 4s) are listed for context but not read line by line: the 10-K is where the material risk disclosures live. A brand-new company, or one we have only just begun tracking, may have no annual report on file yet; its risk analysis fills in once that lands.
In the Form 10-K filed 24 February 2026, management disclosed a specific warranty liability of $50 million as of December 31, 2025 and estimated aggregate remaining losses related to identified manufacturing issues to range from approximately $35 million to $75 million.
10-K filed 2026-02-24In the Form 10-K filed 24 February 2026, new or materially reworded risk language highlights increased exposure to tariffs and other trade actions — including reference to IEEPA tariffs in 2025, subsequent Section 122 tariffs in 2026, additional U.S. tariffs on certain Chinese imports, port fees on Chinese vessels, and potential tariffs or investigations on polysilicon and processed critical minerals — and states these measures have increased the costs of modules manufactured in certain countries for the U.S. market.
10-K filed 2026-02-24Reads the signal panel above (momentum, volatility, drawdown, relative strength and beta) and ranks each against the whole research universe rather than judging it in isolation.
No computed signal history for this symbol yet — signals need roughly 70 trading days of price history.
Reads which funds hold the name and at what weight, plus insider Form 4 filings, to show the exposure you may already carry through index funds.
As of the 13F reporting period ended 2026-06-30, reported institutional holdings in the company totaled $32.44B and were held by 1,019 reported institutional holders.
13F holdings · 1019 filers · as of 2026-06-30The 13F report notes a quarter-over-quarter reported value change of -38.4% for the reporting period ended 2026-06-30.
13F holdings · 1019 filers · as of 2026-06-30Reads recent headlines that are genuinely about this company, ignoring rating chatter and market-wide stories. Findings argue in the debate but never move the sentiment score.
kalkinemedia.com ran a piece spotlighting a sharp jump in options activity in First Solar, framing that activity alongside analyst commentary and earnings context.
News · kalkinemedia.com · 2026-09-17kalkinemedia.com published commentary positioning First Solar within the broader 'energy stocks' conversation, citing factors like commodity conditions, operating execution, capital discipline, demand visibility, and infrastructure needs.
News · kalkinemedia.com · 2026-09-17Reads parsed Forms 3/4/5: who bought or sold, at what size, and whether a 10b5-1 plan was involved. Flags clustered open-market officer buying; treats plan sales as routine and never counts a fund or 10%-holder as an officer.
Markus Gloeckler (Chief Technology Officer) sold 800 shares valued at "$160k" on 2026-09-01 under a stated 10b5-1 plan.
Form 4 · Gloeckler Markus (Chief Technology Officer) · $160k sold · 2026-09-01Samantha L. Sloan (EVP, Corporate Affairs) reported a sale of 134 shares valued at "$27k" on 2026-09-01 (transaction coded F) and a separate report on 2026-09-01 of 469 shares with reported value "$0" (transaction coded M).
Form 4 · Sloan Samantha L. (EVP, Corporate Affairs) · $0 code M · 2026-09-01Reads the implied-expectations math built from the company's own filings (the growth rate today's price would justify, and the multiples beside it) and argues whether the market's bar looks high or low for this business. Never turns the math into a target.
The share price used in this evidence is $201.16, with shares outstanding 107,469,788 and a market capitalization of $21,618,622,554.
Valuation inputs · SEC XBRL + stored EOD closeTrailing twelve-month GAAP EPS is $14.56, producing a reported price-to-earnings ratio of 13.82.
Valuation inputs · SEC XBRL + stored EOD closeDebate and risk review
A bull and a bear contest the claims and the chair rules on each; the risk review stress-tests what survived.
A bull and a bear argue the analysts' claims across two rounds, then a chair rules on each one. Only what survives feeds the score. The argument is shown, not hidden, so you can judge the reasoning yourself.
A favorable read is supported by a sequence of operating and balance-sheet signals in the provided evidence: gross margin expanded materially from 38.3% to 57.3% across the sampled quarters while operating income and net income showed recovery after a mid-period dip; long-term noncurrent debt dropped to zero by 30 June 2026 and the company carried material cash on the balance sheet. Institutional ownership remains sizable with over $32B reported and an increased reported holder count, and valuation metrics in the evidence show a moderate trailing P/E (~13.8) and an EV/EBITDA ~10.9, which together with margin improvement argue for improved earnings quality in the reported period. These points jointly counterbalance the bear’s emphasis on trade/tariff, warranty, and manufacturing-cost risks by pointing to margin expansion, deleveraging, and large institutional backing; the evidence also notes management monetized Section 45X credits, which may support near-term cash flexibility. Evidence strength: the operational improvements and debt reduction are supported by multiple company filings and quarter-specific figures (strong); institutional holding figures and valuation multiples are sourced to 13F and valuation data (moderate to strong); risk disclosures, insider sales, and negative trailing free cash flow are documented in filings/insider/valuation records and therefore remain substantive but do not negate the documented margin and debt changes (strong).
Chair's verdict, claim by claim
Fragility · computed, not argued
balanced0.33
34 surviving claims rest on 16 distinct sources; the heaviest analyst carries 21% of them, and 97% of what the desk raised survived the debate.
The evidence set rests on a moderate number of distinct sources but a substantial share of surviving claims are concentrated in a few contributors; the single heaviest analyst accounting for ~21% of claims means some interpretations lean on a relatively small analytical voice. The very high survival rate from debate (97%) increases confidence that the desk's vetting preserved most points, but source concentration and analyst dependence reduce the independent redundancy that would make the read more robust.
Disconfirming evidence · base rates · falsifiers
Context
Outside consensus, and where this name already sits in your own portfolio.
Third-party consensus shown for context. It never enters Moneyta sentiment. When the two diverge, the debate above is where the why lives.
What this was built from
Every figure on this page traces to one of these. The desk reads only what is listed here (no outside knowledge, no browsing), and each card shows who read it and what it contributed to the score.
11 filings· 3 cited
SEC XBRL filings
Quarterly figures as filed with the SEC, read straight from EDGAR's structured data, not retyped or estimated.
Read by Mercer+0.3 to the score
6 documents· 3 cited
SEC filing documents
The filings themselves, including the year-over-year comparison of Item 1A risk factors.
Read by Oakes−0.7 to the score
3 holdings records· 1 cited
Fund holdings
Which funds hold this name and at what weight, plus insider Form 4 filings.
Read by Ellis+0.3 to the score
8 headlines· 2 cited
News coverage
Recent headlines about this company, rating chatter excluded and nothing published after the report date.
Read by Yatesnothing survived
2 filings
Insider filings
Parsed Forms 3/4/5 from EDGAR: named insiders, share counts, prices, and 10b5-1 plan state, with stated and inferred flags kept apart.
Read by Talbot−0.8 to the score
1 computation
Valuation inputs
TTM cash-flow figures from the company's own XBRL filings, priced with the stored closing price. Implied growth and multiples only; no fair-value dollar figure reaches the desk, by design.
Read by Archercontext only
1 record· 0 cited
Company profile
Sector, industry and company details.
1 record· 0 cited
Analyst consensus
Third-party consensus, shown for context only; it never enters Moneyta sentiment.
Read means we pulled and handed it to an analyst; cited means a claim on this page points at it. Reading twelve quarters to state one trend is normal; the gap is shown rather than hidden.
Written by AI, checked against sources
The analysts, the bull–bear debate and the editor's note are AI agents reading only the evidence listed on this page. They can misread a filing or a headline, which is why every claim cites a source you can open and check yourself. The sentiment score is arithmetic over the claims that survived the debate, not a language model's opinion.
Educational analysis of published data. Moneyta does not give investment advice or make recommendations. Past patterns do not indicate future results.
The full terminal on FSLR Gold
Who holds it, who's buying, what the Street thinks: live behind the lock, updated as filings land.
Institutional holders
Net institutional flow, Q/Q
Largest holder position
Insider buys, 90 days
Clustered insider value
Street target range
The real figures are for members. Educational analysis, not advice.
Get this for the names you actually hold
Every name in your portfolio, researched the same way, plus the one thing no sample can show: how each one sits inside what you already own.
Educational analysis of published data. Moneyta does not give investment advice or make recommendations.