UBS Pessimistic on First Solar, Inc. (FSLR)

Published on March 30, 2017 at 8:46 am by Insider Monkey Team in News

First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) is trending after Julien Dumoulin-Smith of UBS trimmed his estimates of the solar producer. Dumoulin-Smith isn’t optimistic about Chinese demand this year as solar tariffs in the country ratchet lower, and the analyst believes much of the recent price action in First Solar stock is due to the somewhat negative Chinese demand news flow. The analyst is also worried about First Solar pricing in light of those conditions and competition from silicon-based solar. UBS has a ‘Sell’ rating and $25 price target on the solar producer.

Dumoulin-Smith isn’t the only analyst who lowered his rating on First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) recently. Earlier this week, Philip Shen of Roth Capital lowered his target price to $29 per share from $37 due to his belief of short-term earnings headwinds ahead. Shares of solar producers have been in a downtrend due to sector oversupply. Sentiment also took a hit when President Donald Trump signed an executive order to roll back many of the U.S. federal government’s enforcement of various climate regulations.

Shares of First Solar are currently down slightly on the news, off by 0.64% in the pre-market.

What Does The Smart Money Sentiment Say?

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According to our data, 21 elite funds were long First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) at the end of the fourth quarter, down 2 funds from the previous quarter. Those numbers are out of the 742 elite funds that we track in total.

The Bottom Line

UBS lowered its estimates on First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) primarily due to its estimate that Chinese demand might not be as strong as the market thinks in the near term. In the long run, UBS could be wrong however. For those of you interested, check out this interesting article about the 8 countries that produce the most solar.