Still Bullish on First Solar Earnings

First Solar (FSLR) has made a good recovery from the selling following February’s earnings report. Two weeks ago, FSLR closed as high as 9% above its price before its previous earnings and completed a 40% run-up from February’s bottom. The recent highs also marked the post-earnings highs from October’s poorly received earnings report. The stock … Read more

First Solar Continues Its Post-Earnings Recovery

Insider buying at First Solar (FSLR) continues to mark a near-term bottom in the stock, but the recovery from February’s post-earnings losses has unfolded much more slowly than I expected. FSLR is up 18% since printing a bottom on February 25, the day before FSLR’s CEO and EVP of Marketing & Product Management purchased a … Read more

First Solar’s Former CEO Dumps Shares While the Current CEO BUYS

Now we know the source of some of this week’s selling pressure in First Solar’s stock. Michael Ahearn, former CEO and current Executive Chairman, dumped $142.1M in company stock between the 22nd and 24th. He sold another $20.7M on the 25th and 26th. However, the good news is that on Friday two First Solar (FSLR) … Read more

First Solar Sinks Upon Release of Its Annual Report

The first rate pain continues with First Solar (FSLR). At the time of posting, First Solar has dropped over 4% (to $108) in after hours trading upon the release of its 2009 annual report. No doubt the seventeen pages describing risk factors contributed to the latest reason to sell First Solar shares. These morbid details … Read more

First Solar Guides In-Line and Disappoints Again

Solar investors and traders know the post-earnings routine all too well by now: 1) solar company releases earnings, 2) after hours trading initially sends the stock up on stellar headline results for the last quarter, 3) and then trading sends the stock into negative territory once guidance rolls across the tape or during the conference … Read more

Buying Into First Solar’s Record Short Interest Ahead of Earnings

First Solar (FSLR) reports earnings tonight, and short interest is at a record high. Data from nasdaq.com. Latest update January 29, 2010 This short interest represents about 36% of FSLR’s float. Toss in negative news flow and for the first time in a long time, negativity is running extremely high going into FSLR’s earnings. As … Read more

Fishing for Daylight in First Solar

Bottom-fishing is always a risky business, but sometimes it is worth a try. This is the case with First Solar (FSLR) which has printed several profitable bottoms in the past two years. After dropping for 11 consecutive days, FSLR finally managed to close with a gain on Tuesday. The 3% increase came on volume almost … Read more

First Solar and China’s Empty City of Ordos

In early September, First Solar (FSLR) signed a deal with Ordos City, Inner Mongolia, China for a major solar farm project whose 4 phases will run until 2019. This week, FSLR and Ordos City signed a “Cooperation Framework Agreement” which… “…spells out additional project details and local support that advance the development of the 2 … Read more

Tallying the Damage in Solar Stocks and Sifting for Opportunity

Thursday’s stock market sell-off could finally be the start of the sharp Fall correction I have speculated about in various forms for months now. The extent of the technical damage and the heavy distribution of stock certainly seem to have put a ceiling on stock prices for now. Solar stocks were heavily hit as speculative … Read more

Assorted Thoughts and Trades for September 25, 2009

Today has been a wild day in the financial markets, and I almost hesitate to jot down my thoughts before the close of trading. However, I will be shutting things down to get the weekend started as soon as possible, so I am writing now while thoughts remain fresh. There is no one theme I … Read more