First Solar Announces Full-Year 2018 Financial Guidance

First Solar, Inc. announced full-year 2018 guidance. Alex Bradley, First Solar’s CFO, provided the guidance and outlook during the company’s 2017 Analyst Day event held at the Company’s Series 6 factory in Perrysburg, Ohio.
 
Forecasted net sales for 2018 are $2.3 to $2.5 billion, with solar power systems net sales expected to comprise 75% to 80% of the total net sales and third-party module sales the remainder. Earnings per share (EPS) is forecasted to be between $1.25 and $1.75.
 
The EPS guidance provided is inclusive of production ramp costs of approximately $60 million and production start-up expenses of approximately $110 million, associated with the deployment of Series 6 capacity in 2018. The EPS range also includes projected restructuring related charges of approximately $10 million. The 2018 ending net cash balance is projected in the range of $1.6 to $1.8 billion, with the expected decrease from the end of 2017 resulting from higher projected capital expenditures in 2018 to support the Series 6 production ramp.