- Net sales of
$584 million - Net income per diluted share of
$0.42 - Cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash, and marketable securities of
$1.9 billion - Third quarter production of 2.0 GWDC despite challenging freight and COVID-19 environment
- Increased top production bin to 465 watts, representing 19% glass area efficiency
- Started construction and purchased equipment for our next-generation factories in
Ohio andIndia - YTD net bookings of 10.5 GWDC; 1.5 GWDC since prior earnings call
- Maintain 2021 EPS guidance of
$4.00 to$4.60
“I would like to thank our associates for their dedication and continued execution during the third quarter,” said
Net sales for the third quarter were
Operating income for the third quarter was $51 million. Third quarter operating income included depreciation and amortization of $66 million, underutilization and production start-up of $9 million, and share-based compensation of $6 million.
Net income per diluted share for the third quarter was
Cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash, and marketable securities at the end of the third quarter totaled
2021 guidance has been updated as follows:
Prior | Current | |
Unchanged | ||
Gross Margin ($) (1) | Unchanged | |
Operating Expenses (2) | Unchanged | |
Operating Income (3)(4) | Unchanged | |
Earnings per Share | Unchanged | |
Net Cash Balance (5) | ||
Capital Expenditures | ||
Shipments | 7.6GW to 8.0GW | Unchanged |
—————————— | |||
(1) | Includes of | ||
(2) | Includes | ||
(3) | Includes | ||
(4) | Includes a | ||
(5) | Defined as cash, cash equivalents, marketable securities, and restricted cash less expected debt at the end of 2021 |
Conference Call Details
Investors are encouraged to listen to the conference call and to review the accompanying materials, which contain more information about First Solar’s third quarter financial results and financial outlook.
An audio replay of the conference call will be available through
About
For
This release contains forward-looking statements which are made pursuant to safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements in this release, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements concerning: demand for our technology; our financial guidance for 2021, net sales, gross margin, operating expenses, operating income, net income per share, earnings per share, net cash balance, capital expenditures, shipments, bookings, products and our business and financial objectives for 2021. These forward-looking statements are often characterized by the use of words such as “estimate,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “project,” “plan,” “intend,” “seek,” “believe,” “forecast,” “foresee,” “likely,” “may,” “should,” “goal,” “target,” “might,” “will,” “could,” “predict,” “continue,” “contingent” and the negative or plural of these words and other comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements are only predictions based on our current expectations and our projections about future events and therefore speak only as of the date of this release. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to update any of these forward-looking statements for any reason, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by our forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to: structural imbalances in global supply and demand for PV solar modules; our competitive position and other key competitive factors; the market for renewable energy, including solar energy; the reduction, elimination, expiration or introduction of government subsidies, policies, and support programs for solar energy projects; the impact of public policies, such as tariffs or other trade remedies imposed on solar cells and modules; interest rate fluctuations and both our and our customers’ ability to secure financing; our ability to execute on our long-term strategic plans; the loss of any of our large customers, or the ability of our customers and counterparties to perform under their contracts with us; our ability to execute on our solar module technology and cost reduction roadmaps; our ability to improve the wattage of our solar modules; the creditworthiness of our offtake counterparties and the ability of our offtake counterparties to fulfill their contractual obligations to us; the satisfaction of conditions precedent in our sales agreements; our ability to attract new customers and to develop and maintain existing customer and supplier relationships; our ability to successfully develop and complete our systems business projects; our ability to convert existing production facilities to support new product lines, such as Series 6 module manufacturing; general economic and business conditions, including those influenced by
Contacts
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media@firstsolar.com
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
(In thousands, except share data)
(Unaudited)
2021 | 2020 | ||||||
ASSETS | |||||||
Current assets: | |||||||
Cash and cash equivalents | $ | 1,367,464 | $ | 1,227,002 | |||
Marketable securities (amortized cost of | 554,601 | 520,066 | |||||
Accounts receivable trade | 249,771 | 269,095 | |||||
Less: allowance for credit losses | (1,430 | ) | (3,009 | ) | |||
Accounts receivable trade, net | 248,341 | 266,086 | |||||
Accounts receivable, unbilled | 25,053 | 26,673 | |||||
Less: allowance for credit losses | (51 | ) | (303 | ) | |||
Accounts receivable, unbilled, net | 25,002 | 26,370 | |||||
Inventories | 647,439 | 567,587 | |||||
Assets held for sale | — | 155,685 | |||||
Prepaid expenses and other current assets | 203,478 | 251,739 | |||||
Total current assets | 3,046,325 | 3,014,535 | |||||
Property, plant and equipment, net | 2,505,921 | 2,402,285 | |||||
PV solar power systems, net | 230,423 | 243,396 | |||||
Project assets | 335,259 | 373,377 | |||||
Deferred tax assets, net | 108,387 | 104,099 | |||||
Restricted marketable securities (amortized cost of | 251,379 | 265,280 | |||||
14,462 | 14,462 | ||||||
Intangible assets, net | 47,935 | 56,138 | |||||
Inventories | 236,446 | 201,229 | |||||
Other assets | 492,093 | 434,130 | |||||
Total assets | $ | 7,268,630 | $ | 7,108,931 | |||
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY | |||||||
Current liabilities: | |||||||
Accounts payable | $ | 170,041 | $ | 183,349 | |||
Income taxes payable | 12,984 | 14,571 | |||||
Accrued expenses | 231,163 | 310,467 | |||||
Current portion of long-term debt | 37,129 | 41,540 | |||||
Deferred revenue | 238,810 | 188,813 | |||||
Liabilities held for sale | — | 25,621 | |||||
Other current liabilities | 25,109 | 83,037 | |||||
Total current liabilities | 715,236 | 847,398 | |||||
Accrued solar module collection and recycling liability | 140,019 | 130,688 | |||||
Long-term debt | 241,483 | 237,691 | |||||
Other liabilities | 341,817 | 372,226 | |||||
Total liabilities | 1,438,555 | 1,588,003 | |||||
Commitments and contingencies | |||||||
Stockholders’ equity: | |||||||
Common stock, | 106 | 106 | |||||
Additional paid-in capital | 2,865,628 | 2,866,786 | |||||
Accumulated earnings | 3,053,085 | 2,715,762 | |||||
Accumulated other comprehensive loss | (88,744 | ) | (61,726 | ) | |||
Total stockholders’ equity | 5,830,075 | 5,520,928 | |||||
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity | $ | 7,268,630 | $ | 7,108,931 |
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
(In thousands, except per share amounts)
(Unaudited)
Three Months Ended | Nine Months Ended | ||||||||||||||||||
2021 | 2021 | 2020 | 2021 | 2020 | |||||||||||||||
Net sales | $ | 583,504 | $ | 629,180 | $ | 927,565 | $ | 2,016,058 | $ | 2,102,100 | |||||||||
Cost of sales | 458,924 | 455,062 | 634,550 | 1,532,593 | 1,581,287 | ||||||||||||||
Gross profit | 124,580 | 174,118 | 293,015 | 483,465 | 520,813 | ||||||||||||||
Operating expenses: | |||||||||||||||||||
Selling, general and administrative | 43,476 | 36,346 | 49,861 | 131,909 | 160,218 | ||||||||||||||
Research and development | 25,426 | 23,935 | 22,972 | 69,234 | 71,068 | ||||||||||||||
Production start-up | 2,945 | 1,715 | 13,019 | 16,014 | 23,812 | ||||||||||||||
Litigation loss | — | — | — | — | 6,000 | ||||||||||||||
Total operating expenses | 71,847 | 61,996 | 85,852 | 217,157 | 261,098 | ||||||||||||||
Gain on sales of businesses, net | (1,866 | ) | (1,745 | ) | — | 147,284 | — | ||||||||||||
Operating income | 50,867 | 110,377 | 207,163 | 413,592 | 259,715 | ||||||||||||||
Foreign currency loss, net | (1,018 | ) | (1,000 | ) | (1,852 | ) | (4,613 | ) | (3,549 | ) | |||||||||
Interest income | 1,752 | 1,288 | 2,109 | 3,996 | 15,113 | ||||||||||||||
Interest expense, net | (2,958 | ) | (4,623 | ) | (10,975 | ) | (10,577 | ) | (21,018 | ) | |||||||||
Other (expense) income, net | (2,603 | ) | (3,247 | ) | (3,236 | ) | 2,598 | (8,653 | ) | ||||||||||
Income before taxes and equity in earnings | 46,040 | 102,795 | 193,209 | 404,996 | 241,608 | ||||||||||||||
Income tax (expense) benefit | (837 | ) | (20,346 | ) | (38,107 | ) | (67,673 | ) | 40,894 | ||||||||||
Equity in earnings, net of tax | — | $ | — | (65 | ) | — | 150 | ||||||||||||
Net income | $ | 45,203 | $ | 82,449 | $ | 155,037 | $ | 337,323 | $ | 282,652 | |||||||||
Net income per share: | |||||||||||||||||||
Basic | $ | 0.43 | $ | 0.78 | $ | 1.46 | $ | 3.18 | $ | 2.67 | |||||||||
Diluted | $ | 0.42 | $ | 0.77 | $ | 1.45 | $ | 3.16 | $ | 2.65 | |||||||||
Weighted-average number of shares used in per share calculations: | |||||||||||||||||||
Basic | 106,320 | 106,313 | 105,967 | 106,241 | 105,830 | ||||||||||||||
Diluted | 106,899 | 106,836 | 106,751 | 106,879 | 106,537 |
Source:
2021 GlobeNewswire, Inc., source