JAGS Report
Bank of America reiterated its buy rating on shares of First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR) in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning. The firm currently has a $35.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $30.00.
“We’re reiterating our Buy recommendation and raising our price objective from $30 to $35. We think the big returns in First Solar’s stock may be behind us for the intermediate term, while we and the rest of the market work to understand the sustainability of First Solar’s business model beyond the current profit bulge. “However, we think the stock represents solid value at the current level, and we note that cash generation improves substantially starting in 2013. In our view, the rapid declines in crystalline solar module pricing are behind us – with no profit margins left to give up, China’s module companies must now focus on grinding out incremental cost,” Bank of America’s analyst commented.
“That gives First Solar a chance to begin leverage its own cost curve again. We think the company will be capable of building utility-scale solar facilities for less than $1.40 a watt by 2014, which should leave First Solar competitive with anything that Chinese module suppliers and third-party EPCs can deliver . . .”
