First Solar (FSLR) builds projects for large-scale customers in a more cost-efficient manner than in the past, benefiting from the low prices caused by an oversupply of solar modules and moving away from subsidized plays and into markets that make sense from a cost perspective, says Ben Kallo, Senior Analyst at Robert W. Baird & Co.
“First Solar plays predominantly, almost exclusively, in the utility-scale business. They are building multihundred megawatt projects at this point, or at least 50 megawatts or above, for utilities out in the desert. They sell the power through long-term power-purchase agreements,” Kallo said.
Kallo rates FSLR “outperform” among the solar energy companies, and he says this downstream company has positive earnings despite investor confusion due to negative headlines about the upstream solar industry. He also says there are huge markets globally for companies like these, among them sparsely populated countries with lots of sunlight like South Africa, Australia and India.
“Interestingly enough, a place that won’t really think about it — the Middle East — is also a market that’s developing just because generating electricity from solar is actually cheaper from the opportunity cost perspective than burning oil could generate electricity,” Kallo said.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THIS INTERVIEW CLICK HERE.
Contrarian Investors May Find Opportunity in First Solar, Inc. (FSLR)
February 24, 2015
Medtronic (MDT) Slowly Moves Away from Mature Markets and Grows Its Pipeline
March 19, 2013
Fidelity National Information Services (FIS) Grows Organically Thanks to Exposure to Banks and Emerging Markets
June 13, 2013
Solar Power Electricity Generation is Investment Power for this ESG Fund Manager
September 05, 2022
Electronic-Component Demand Grows in Emerging Markets
July 28, 2011
