2023-10-31 21:49:47
U.S. solar panel maker First Solar reported a third-quarter profit on Tuesday, compared with a loss a year earlier, due to sustained demand for renewable energy, and raised the lower end of its profit forecast for the year. whole year.
Shares of the company rose 3.6% in following-market trading.
The company now expects full-year earnings per share of between $7.20 and $8.00, up from $7.00 and $8.00 previously, raising the midpoint of its forecast at $7.60, compared to $7.50 previously.
The Biden administration’s 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which allocates approximately $370 billion to climate change and clean energy efforts, provides a tax credit for American-made panels, benefiting companies such as First Solar.
According to a report from the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and Wood Mackenzie, the U.S. solar industry is expected to add a record 32 gigawatts (GW) of production capacity this year, an increase of 53% per year. compared to new capacity in 2022, despite rising interest rates increasing project costs.
First Solar’s year-to-date reservations increased to 27.8 gigawatts, the company said.
Solar project developers in the United States have turned to First Solar’s cadmium telluride products in part because the technology does not rely on polysilicon, a raw material primarily manufactured in China and used in the vast majority of panels.
The company reported a profit of $268.4 million, or $2.50 per share, for the quarter ended Sept. 30, compared with a loss of $49.2 million, or 46 cents per share, for the same period. period of the previous year.
First Solar said construction of its Indian factory has been completed and it has demonstrated a production capacity of 12,000 modules per day. (Reporting by Sourasis Bose in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
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