First Solar : Quarter 2025 Q1 2025 Earnings Presentation

Published: 2025-04-29 19:34:07 ET FSLR

First Solar Q1'25

Earnings Call

April 29, 2025

Demand

0.6 GW of net bookings since previous earnings call

Total bookings backlog of 66.3 GW extending through 2030

Total booking opportunities of 81.0 GW; 23.7 GW mid-to-late stage

Manufacturing and Technology

Production(1): S6 2.0 GW / S7 2.0 GW

Yield(1): S6 97% / S7 96%

Completed CuRe limited commercial production, continued field deployment, initial performance data meeting expectations

Louisiana factory on schedule to begin commercial operation in 2H 2025

(2) (3)

Financial  Q1 2025 diluted EPS of $1.95

Q1 2025 gross cash of $0.9 billion, net cash of $0.4 billion

1 For the period January 1, 2025, through March 31, 2025

2 Defined as cash, cash equivalents, marketable securities, restricted cash and restricted cash equivalents

3 Defined as gross cash less debt 3

Near Term

Reciprocal Tariffs:

Industry Uncertainty

"Universal" and "reciprocal" tariff rates create significant operational uncertainty

First Solar's contracted backlog for imported product contains tariff-related risk mitigation provisions

Pivoting India manufacturing to domestic market and evaluating Malaysia and Vietnam 2025 production volume

Trade and Industrial Policy

Uncertain impacts of Congressional budget reconciliation on renewable energy tax credits

Final Southeast Asia AD/CVD determinations confirm dumping and illegal subsidization, levy substantial duties

Chinese producers relocate capacity, data indicates surge in U.S. imports, including from Laos and Indonesia

Longer Term

Utility-Scale Solar: Strong Fundamentals

Projected U.S. electricity demand growth of 50% by 2050

Artificial Intelligence, reshoring domestic manufacturing expected to be key drivers

Utility-scale solar capable of rapidly delivering cost-effective incremental peaking and baseload capacity

Domestic Manufacturing Ecosystem

Policy uncertainty and imposition of tariffs may delay c-Si manufacturing investments in U.S.

Timing of IRA §45X credit phase-out limits potential benefits to facilities not yet operating

FEOC regulations, high reliance on bill of material imports pose further headwinds to c-Si manufacturing in U.S.

First Solar

Long-Term Strength

America's Solar Company: American technology, American manufacturing, American supply chain

14 GW of vertically-integrated domestic operational capacity by 2026 provides supply certainty

Tangible economic value creation and retention through domestic manufacturing, supply chains

| Expected Module Volume Sold (GWDC):

68.5 GW 2.9 GW 0.5 GW 66.1 GW 0.2 GW 66.3 GW

Dec 31, 2024 (1) YTD Volume Sold as of

Mar 31, 2025 (2)

YTD Net Bookings as of Mar 31, 2025 (3)

Mar 31, 2025 (4) QTD Net-Bookings

Q2 2025 (5)

April 29, 2025 (6)

The table above presents our expected module volume sold.

Backlog as of December 31, 2024

Volume sold from January 1, 2025, to March 31, 2025

Net-bookings from January 1, 2025, to March 31, 2025

Backlog as of March 31, 2025

Net-bookings from April 1, 2025, to April 29, 2025

Backlog as of March 31, 2025, and net-bookings through April 29, 2025. Volume sold from April 1, 2025, to April 29, 2025, not deducted

Total booking opportunities Mid-to-Late stage opportunities

0.4

0.3

10.9

69.6

6.1

17.3

3.8 GW

of opportunities confirmed,

but not booked

81.0 GW Opportunity 23.7 GW Opportunity

Note: Volumes are rounded to the nearest hundred megawatts and may not add up due to rounding. 6

(In millions, except per share amounts)(1)

Q1 2025A

Q4 2024A

Q1 2024A

QoQ Change

YoY Change

Net sales

$845

$1,514

$794

$(669)

$51

Gross profit %

40.8%

37.5%

43.6%

3.3%

(2.8)%

Selling, general and administrative

Research and development

Production start-up

Operating income

221

457

243

(236)

(22)

Income tax expense

(45)

(11)

Net income

210

393

237

(183)

(27)

Net income per share - diluted

1.95

3.65

2.20

(1.70)

(0.25)

1 Actual, QoQ, and YoY amounts rounded to the nearest million and may not tie due to rounding 7

Q1 2025A

(In millions)(1)

Q1 2025A

Q4 2024A

Q1 2024A

QoQ Change

YoY Change

Cash and marketable securities(2)

$897

$1,810

$2,011

$(913)

$(1,114)

Accounts receivable - current and noncurrent

1,606

1,355

670

251

936

Inventories - current and noncurrent

1,563

1,360

1,236

203

327

Government grants receivable - current and noncurrent

645

561

533

112

Property, plant and equipment, net

5,638

5,414

4,916

224

722

Total assets

12,117

12,124

10,761

(7)

1,356

Deferred revenue - current and noncurrent

1,901

2,040

2,068

(139)

(167)

Debt - current and noncurrent

525

610

620

(85)

(95)

Total liabilities

3,929

4,147

3,858

(218) 71

Total stockholders' equity

8,187

7,978

6,903

209

1,284

1 Actual, QoQ, and YoY amounts rounded to the nearest million and may not tie due to rounding

2 Includes cash and cash equivalents, marketable securities, restricted cash and restricted cash equivalents 8

Prior

Current

Policy

Risks of policy uncertainty in Europe, India and the United States

Especially with regards to tariffs, and the ongoing budget reconciliation process and its related potential impacts on the IRA

Risks of policy uncertainty in Europe, India and the United States, especially relating to the budget reconciliation process and IRA, remain

Policy impact and uncertainty relating to tariffs has increased significantly

Tariff impact on guidance range

Section 232 tariffs on aluminum and steel imports into the U.S. at a rate of 25%

Upper end: Assumes impacts from the tariff policy in place as of today's call

remaining through at least the end of 2025

Lower end: Assumes the above, with the addition of including the impacts from

the assumption that "reciprocal" tariffs take effect as of July 9th, 2025

Tariff cost impacts to full year guidance

Section 232 tariffs approx. $15M to $30M

Volume and ASP changes approx. $100M to $375M

Import duties on finished goods approx. $90M to $70M

Raw material imports approx. $25M to $55M

Period costs (sales freight, warehousing, ramp, underutilization, and other) approx. $65M to $270M

Temporary idling of production in Malaysia and Vietnam provides optionality pending tariff, budget reconciliation, IRA updates

Expected Earnings Cadence

Prior

Current

Net Sales

$5.3B to $5.8B

$4.5B to $5.5B

Gross Margin ($)(2)

$2.45B to $2.75B

$1.96B to $2.47B

Operating Expenses(3)

$470M to $510M

Unchanged

Operating Income(4)

$1.95B to $2.30B

$1.45B to $2.00B

Earnings Per Diluted Share

$17.00 to $20.00

$12.50 to $17.50

Net Cash Balance(5)

$0.7B to $1.2B

$0.4B to $0.9B

Capital Expenditures

$1.3B to $1.5B

$1.0B to $1.5B

Volume Sold

18.0GW to 20.0GW

15.5GW to 19.3GW

"From a second quarter earnings cadence perspective, we anticipate our module sales to be between 3.0 and

3.9 GW. We forecast our advanced manufacturing production tax credit

available to us under Section 45X of the

Internal Revenue Code ("Section 45X tax credit"), to be between $310 million and $350 million in the second quarter.

These factors result in forecasted second quarter earnings per diluted share between $2.00 and $3.00."

1 The guidance figures presented are forward-looking statements that are subject to a variety of assumptions and estimates, including with respect to tariffs or other trade remedies and certain factors related to the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022

2 Assumes $95 to $220 million of ramp and underutilization costs and $1.65 to $1.7 billion of Section 45X tax credits

3 Assumes $60 to $70 million of production start-up expense

4 Assumes $155 to $290 million of production start-up expense, ramp and underutilization costs and $1.65 to $1.7 billion of Section 45X tax credits

5 Defined as cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash, restricted cash equivalents, and marketable securities, less expected debt at the end of 2025

Demand

0.6 GW of net bookings since previous earnings call

Total bookings backlog of 66.3 GW extending through 2030

Total booking opportunities of 81.0 GW; 23.7 GW mid-to-late stage

Manufacturing and Technology

Q1 production(1) of 4 GW

Completed CuRe limited commercial production, continued field deployment, initial performance data meeting expectations

Louisiana factory on schedule to begin commercial operation in 2H 2025

(2) (3)

Financial  Q1 2025 diluted EPS of $1.95

Q1 2025 gross cash of $0.9 billion, net cash of $0.4 billion

1 For the period January 1, 2025, through March 31, 2025

2 Defined as cash, cash equivalents, marketable securities, restricted cash and restricted cash equivalents

3 Defined as gross cash less debt 11

First Solar, the First Solar logo, and Leading the World's Sustainable Energy Future are trademarks of First Solar, Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. Series 6, Series 6 Plus, CuRe, Series 6 CuRe, and the Series 6

CuRe logo are trademarks of First Solar, Inc. 12

Disclaimer

First Solar Inc. published this content on April 29, 2025, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on April 29, 2025 at 23:24 UTC.