Shares of First Solar Inc. $(FSLR)$ dropped as much as 8.75% in premarket trading after the solar company reported first-quarter earnings that missed expectations and sales that also missed and were nearly halved.
First Solar earned $45.6 million, or 40 cents a share, in the quarter, contrasting with a loss of $43.3 million, or 41 cents a share, in the year-ago period.
Sales fell to $548 million, from $1 billion, mostly driven by a drop in the volume of solar modules sold to third parties, the company said. Analysts polled by FactSet expected EPS of 99 cents on sales of $714 million in the quarter.
The company kept its 2023 guidance intact at revenue between $3.4 billion and $3.6 billion, and EPS between $7 and $8. The stock ended the regular trading day up 0.7%.