First Solar, Inc. (FSLR)

First Solar makes one thing: thin film solar panels, called modules, built on cadmium telluride (CdTe) rather than the crystalline silicon most rivals use, and it reports a single segment. It sells two models: the Series 6 Plus, about 4 feet by 6 feet, averaged 464 watts at the end of 2025, and the larger Series 7, about 4 feet by 7 feet, averaged 532 watts. It has sold more than 93 GW of modules, and it prices and sells them by the watt. 2324252627

How it operates

First Solar makes one thing: thin film solar panels, called modules, built on cadmium telluride (CdTe) rather than the crystalline silicon most rivals use, and it reports a single segment. It sells two models: the Series 6 Plus, about 4 feet by 6 feet, averaged 464 watts at the end of 2025, and the larger Series 7, about 4 feet by 7 feet, averaged 532 watts. It has sold more than 93 GW of modules, and it prices and sells them by the watt. 2324252627

Its buyers are system developers, independent power producers, utilities, commercial and industrial companies and large corporate energy buyers, and most of the modules went to projects in the United States. Silicon Ranch Corporation and NextEra Energy each took 10% or more of 2025 net sales; the financial statements put the two largest customers at 11% and 10%. The filing says data centers, AI workloads and the electrification of industry have widened the pool of buyers, with technology, data infrastructure, manufacturing and logistics companies buying power under long-term contracts. Substantially all sales are in US dollars. 282930313233

It makes the modules in its own plants, in a continuous, automated flow that turns a sheet of glass into a finished module within a few hours. The plants are in Perrysburg and Lake Township, Ohio; Trinity, Alabama; Iberia Parish, Louisiana; Kulim, Malaysia; Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; and Tamil Nadu, India, where capacity is 3.2 GW, and a sixth US plant is being built in Gaffney, South Carolina. Headquarters are in Phoenix, with research in Perrysburg and Santa Clara, California. Malaysia exempts substantially all of its income there from tax until 2027, and Vietnam taxes its income at reduced rates until the end of 2036. 3435363738

Its process uses about 30 raw materials and components. CdTe, tellurium and products containing it, and the substrate glass come from a single supplier or a few, and some production equipment is custom-built and sole-sourced. Tellurium is mainly a by-product of copper refining, and China, a major producer, tightened export controls on it in February 2025; the company has applied for export licenses and is pursuing other suppliers. It uses no polysilicon and says none of its module components come from Xinjiang, China. 3940414243444546

The specifics

Its cells are a thin film of CdTe on glass, which the company says needs about 2% to 3% of the semiconductor material of a crystalline silicon module and, in many climates, produces more energy: it copes better with heat, humidity and partial shade and is immune to cell cracking. It has put more than 2 billion dollars into research and development over the last 20 years and holds world records of 23.1% for a CdTe research cell and 19.9% for module aperture efficiency. It is developing perovskite films on a dedicated line in Ohio and a process called CuRe, which replaces copper in the cell to improve performance and was first sold to customers in the first half of 2025. 47484950515253545556

It enforces patents on TOPCon, a type of crystalline silicon cell that several rivals have introduced. It sued JinkoSolar in February 2025 and Canadian Solar in May 2025 in Delaware, Adani's Mundra unit sued it seeking a declaration that it does not infringe, and late in 2025 the Patent Trial and Appeal Board declined challenges to its patents by both JinkoSolar and Mundra. On February 24, 2026 it petitioned the US International Trade Commission over TOPCon imports by affiliates of Axitec Solar, Canadian Solar, JA Solar, JinkoSolar, Mundra, Philadelphia Solar, Hanwha QCells, Runergy, Trina Solar and VSUN. 57585960616263

It names its main competition as crystalline silicon module makers, most of them linked to China, some with access to state support that lets them run at minimal or negative margins for long periods. US policy tilts the field: tax-credit limits tied to foreign entities of concern and domestic-content rules favor US-made or non-Chinese equipment. First Solar belongs to the industry committee whose 2024 petitions led to antidumping and countervailing duty orders, extra import duties on goods judged unfairly cheap or subsidized, on solar products from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam in June 2025. 2764656667

Two problems marked 2025. Some Series 7 modules made in 2023 and 2024 can lose power early once installed; the company estimates that about two-thirds of Series 7 modules sold before the end of 2024 may be affected, puts the remaining losses at 35 million to 75 million dollars, and holds a 50 million dollar warranty liability for them. It also terminated supply agreements with BP Solar Holding and its affiliate Lightsource after they failed to cure breaches, which cut its contracted backlog by 6.6 GW worth 1.9 billion dollars, and it is suing them in New York for the remaining termination payments. 6869707172

What drives growth, line by line

Modules business. The only line: net sales rose 24% to 5.2 billion dollars from 4.2 billion, which the filing puts down mainly to a 24% increase in the volume of modules sold to third parties; it produced 16.1 GW and sold 17.5 GW. Gross margin fell to 40.6% from 44.2% as more of the modules sold were made in the United States, at higher cost, and warehousing, duties and tariffs, and logistics costs rose. It recognized 1.6 billion dollars of US manufacturing credits under Section 45X against its cost of sales, which offset part of the rise. 73747576

By place, the United States brought in 5.0 billion dollars, 95.7% of revenue, up 27.9%. The filing says module prices held stable in the United States while they fell in many other markets, helped by demand for domestically made modules under the IRA, limits on tax credits tied to foreign entities, and tariffs on imported modules. 7778

India brought in 195.6 million dollars, 3.7% of revenue, down 3.0%. The company expanded its Indian plant to 3.2 GW of capacity. India's approved list of manufacturers, whose modules with domestically made cells nearly all projects completed from June 2026 must use, includes First Solar, though a draft proposal would raise the minimum module efficiency for the list from 2027. 77367980

Elsewhere sales shrank: France fell 81.7% to 6.3 million dollars and all other countries together 65.1% to 22.8 million. The company says it cut Series 6 production at its international plants because Chinese modules priced near or below cost have captured Europe, India is effectively closed to Southeast Asian products, and imports into the United States face tariffs. 7781

What comes next, in the company's own words: contracts for the future sale of 50.1 GW of modules at an aggregate transaction price of 15.0 billion dollars, which it expects to recognize as revenue through 2030; of these, 23.2 GW carry price adjustments for technology improvements that could add up to 0.6 billion dollars, mostly in 2027 and 2028. It is adding about 4 GW of US capacity, including the sixth US plant, expected to start in the second half of 2026, and intends to convert one Ohio facility to CuRe beginning in the first quarter of 2026. 82838456

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What the desk infers Inferred

1. Inferred

   First Solar's profit leans heavily on the US manufacturing tax credit: it recognized 1.6 billion dollars of Section 45X credits in 2025 against a gross profit of 2.1 billion dollars, so its US-made modules, more than module prices alone, carry its earnings.

   Because

   • It recognized 1.6 billion dollars of Section 45X credits as a reduction of cost of sales in 2025, and expects about 17 cents per watt for each module made in the United States and sold to a third party. 76
   • Its gross profit for 2025 was 2.1 billion dollars. 85
   • Gross margin fell as more US-made modules were sold, and the filing credits higher Section 45X credits with offsetting part of that fall. 75
   • It turns the credits into cash by selling them, for example 701.9 million dollars of 2025 credits sold for 668.1 million. 86
   Confidence 80 of 100Wrong if A year in which gross profit holds near its 2025 level while the Section 45X credits recognized fall sharply, showing the modules earn their margin without the credit.
2. Inferred

   The sixth US plant, in Gaffney, South Carolina, is meant to turn the Malaysian and Vietnamese factories into suppliers of part-made modules finished in the United States, cutting the tariffs now charged on imported finished modules.

   Because

   • The company says the plant will onshore final production processes for modules initiated by its international fleet. 83
   • Tariffs on international modules imported into the United States added 94.4 million dollars to 2025 cost of sales. 87
   • Tariffs applied to Vietnam, India and Malaysia, the countries where it makes modules outside the United States. 88
   • It has already cut Series 6 production at its international plants, citing US import tariffs among its reasons. 81
   • The United States brought in 95.7% of 2025 revenue. 77
   Confidence 65 of 100Wrong if A filing showing the South Carolina plant finishing modules mainly for markets outside the United States, or showing its output still charged the import tariff on finished modules.
3. Inferred

   First Solar's contracted backlog is less firm than its size suggests: customers can and do walk away from supply agreements, leaving the company to resell the modules and pursue termination payments in court.

   Because

   • Terminating the BP Solar Holding and Lightsource agreements cut the backlog by 6.6 GW worth 1.9 billion dollars. 71
   • Of 384.6 million dollars of termination payments triggered, it recognized 61.0 million as revenue and sued for the rest. 72
   • The filing says its contract terms have been breached by customers or renegotiated in the past. 89
   • It leaves out of its 50.1 GW backlog the Indian contracts whose payment is not fully secured. 82
   Confidence 55 of 100Wrong if Several years in which no customer contract is terminated or renegotiated and the termination payments owed are collected in full.