First Solar Slides After Analyst Day

First Solar Shares Slip After Company Did Not Report Any Major News at Monday Analyst Day

NEW YORK (AP) -- Shares of solar cell maker First Solar Inc. slid more than 6 percent Tuesday, as investors seemed dissatisfied with the lack of news coming out of the company's first analyst day.
Stocks slipped $14.68, or 6.4 percent, to $214.54. The stock rose 9.9 percent at the end of last week ahead of yesterday's analyst meeting, but fell 3.3 percent Monday.

Collins Stewart analyst Daniel Ries said investors were expecting First Solar to share some major news.

"There was some anticipation... that there would be an announcement of either a new customer or additional plant expansion," he said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "While certainly not negative in any way, the event was primarily an overview of the company's strategy."

Ries has a "Buy" rating and $260 price target on the stock. He said First Solar will become the first solar power company that can compete with traditional utilities with government subsidies, and believes its prices will reach competitive levels between 2010 and 2012.

In a client note, CIBC World Markets analyst Adam Hinckley said the company did offer some insight into its plans to enter the U.S. utility market.

Hinckley said the company plans to reach the U.S. through Turner Renewable Energy LLC, a company it bought last week. He said Turner, which does business as DT Solar, sells solar systems to utilities, and the move will increase First Solar's profit.

"We expect the move into the U.S. utility market to drive net income growth, although volume and profitability of system sales is very difficult to quantify at this point," he said.

The analyst maintained a "Sector Outperformer," or "Buy," rating, and raised his target price to $250 per share from $230. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial have price targets ranging from $220 to $310 on the Phoenix-based company.