TLDR
- FSLR fell about 8% and touched a 52-week low of $182.88
- The stock is down close to 27% since the start of 2026
- The drop follows Robert W. Baird cutting its price expectations for the stock
- Analysts are watching limited bookings visibility and U.S. solar policy uncertainty
- First Solar’s backlog still stretches out to 2030 despite the near-term pressure
First Solar stock dropped about 8% on Wednesday, touching a 52-week low of $182.88. The move erased more of the gains from what had been a strong year for the solar company.
The stock is now down close to 27% since the start of 2026. That marks a sharp reversal from the highs it reached earlier in the year.
First Solar’s 52-week high sits at $320.95. Wednesday’s low is well below that mark, showing how far the stock has fallen since then.
The drop came after Robert W. Baird cut its price expectations for First Solar. The firm’s revised outlook sharpened worries about the company’s financial picture heading into 2026.
Baird’s move follows reports of limited visibility on future bookings. Investors are also watching growing uncertainty around U.S. solar policy and utility-scale demand.
Backlog Still Stretches to 2030
First Solar holds a large backlog of contracted orders that runs through 2030. That gives the company a long runway of expected sales even as short-term demand wobbles.
The backlog supports production planning and helps smooth out earnings during periods of market swings. Revenue has still been choppy in recent quarters.
Policy questions around tariffs and trade investigations could keep demand volatile for a while. Some international factories may stay underused as a result.
That underuse could weigh on margins over time. The company has not given a clear timeline for when utilization might improve.
Analysts Still Split on Valuation
Not every analyst has turned negative on First Solar. BMO Capital upgraded the stock to Outperform with a $263 price target earlier this year.
BMO said the earlier decline looked overdone given the tariff and minimum import price framework now in place. Mizuho also kept an Outperform rating, raising its target to $324.
Mizuho pointed to new average selling prices as a possible earnings driver. Baird itself had upgraded First Solar to Outperform before Wednesday’s cut, pointing to the utility-scale market.
First Solar trades at a price to earnings ratio of 11.93. Its PEG ratio sits at 0.31, a level some see as cheap relative to growth.
First Solar’s average trading volume sits near 2.14 million a day. Its market cap now stands at about $21.58 billion.
Technical sentiment on the stock currently reads as a Buy signal. That comes even after Wednesday’s slide to a fresh 52-week low.
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