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(Bloomberg) — First Solar Inc. shares are poised to open sharply down Wednesday after it cut earnings guidance following tariffs imposed by the Trump administration.
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The biggest US panel maker lowered its 2025 net sales guidance to $4.5 billion to $5.5 billion, from $5.3 billion to $5.8 billion previously. First Solar cut earnings per diluted share to $12.50 to $17.50, down from $17 to $20.
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Shares were down 13% in premarket trading at 7:28 a.m. in New York.
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The US solar industry is facing headwinds from higher borrowing costs and tariffs under President Donald Trump, who has moved to quash federal support for green energy development. Trump’s tariffs — combined with uncertainty over federal clean energy tax credits — have created significant near-term operational uncertainty, Chief Executive Officer Mark Widmar said on an investor call Tuesday.
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Specifically, the tariffs applicable to India, Malaysia and Vietnam are creating “a significant economic headwind” for First Solar’s manufacturing facilities in those countries that are selling into US markets, Widmar said. So, the company is pivoting its India manufacturing to the domestic market and evaluating Malaysia and Vietnam’s 2025 production volumes.
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While tariffs are disruptive to First Solar’s “international volumes and margins, we expect relatively more disruption to competition,” analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. said in a note. “FSLR has historically benefited during periods of US customer uncertainty primarily due to its domestic supply chain.”
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Still, analysts at KeyBanc Capital Markets downgraded their rating to underweight and said that despite the company’s domestic manufacturing capacity, “the impact of volumes imported from its facilities in Vietnam, Malaysia, and India appears to be greater than we thought” and not likely mitigated in the near term.
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—With assistance from Mark Chediak, Brian Eckhouse and Subrat Patnaik.
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(Updates throughout, including analyst comments in last paragraph)
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