First Solar Cuts 2026 Sales and Volume Outlook

The Tip Desk · October 31, 2026 · 3 min read

Third-quarter net sales were $1.23 billion, down 23% from a year earlier, as the solar maker lowered full-year volume to 16.0 GW to 17.0 GW.

First Solar, Inc. (FSLR), America’s leading photovoltaic solar technology and manufacturing company, reported third-quarter net sales of $1.23 billion, a 23% decline from a year earlier, after a 4% year-over-year drop in the second quarter. The company attributed the larger fall primarily to a decrease in the volume of modules sold to third parties.

Profitability moved the other way. Net income was $571 million, or $5.30 a share, compared with $456 million, or $4.24 a share, a year earlier. Adjusted EBITDA was $744 million, up 11% from $671 million.

Gross profit expanded to $713.1 million from $610.7 million, lifting the gross margin to 58% from 38%. Adjusted EBITDA margin widened to 60% from 42%. Cost of sales fell to $517.9 million from $984.1 million. Operating income was $546.1 million.

The board authorized a $500 million share repurchase program, effective immediately, with no expiration date. The company said the authorization reflects confidence in long-term value while preserving capital for technology development and growth.

Net cash declined to $1.5 billion as of September 30, 2026, from $2.4 billion at year-end 2025. The company said the decrease was driven by working-capital needs and capital expenditures primarily for U.S. facilities, partially offset by Section 45X cash receipts and IEEPA tariff refunds. Gross cash was $1.6 billion. Cash and cash equivalents were $1.58 billion. Inventories rose to $1.14 billion from $736.7 million at year-end.

Contracted sales backlog was 44.0 GW as of September 30, down from 45.1 GW at June 30.

Chief Executive Officer Mark Widmar said Section 232 represents a structural change in how the United States approaches solar manufacturing. He said the company, which described itself as the only fully-integrated utility-scale solar manufacturer without dependency on the Chinese crystalline silicon supply chain, believes it is structurally positioned to benefit.

First Solar cut 2026 volume-sold guidance to 16.0 GW to 17.0 GW from 17.0 GW to 18.2 GW. Net-sales guidance was lowered to $4.6 billion to $4.9 billion from $4.9 billion to $5.2 billion. Adjusted EBITDA guidance was reduced to $2.55 billion to $2.75 billion from $2.6 billion to $2.8 billion. Capital-expenditure guidance was cut to $0.6 billion to $0.8 billion from $0.8 billion to $1.0 billion. Gross-profit, operating-expense, and net-cash-balance ranges were left unchanged.

The updated outlook assumes $2.07 billion to $2.19 billion of Section 45X tax credits and underutilization costs of $110 million to $120 million, versus a prior assumption of $2.10 billion to $2.19 billion of credits and $115 million to $135 million of underutilization. Production start-up expense is assumed at $80 million to $90 million. Adjusted EBITDA guidance reflects addbacks of approximately $201 million for share-based compensation, Section 45X tax credit discounts, underutilization, and production start-up expenses.

For the fourth quarter, the company anticipates module sales of 4.3 GW to 5.3 GW, including 3.4 GW to 4.3 GW from U.S. manufacturing operations, versus a third-quarter cadence preview of 3.9 GW to 4.5 GW including 3.2 GW to 3.7 GW from U.S. operations. Forecasted fourth-quarter Adjusted EBITDA is $643 million to $843 million, compared with a third-quarter preview of $625 million to $775 million.

The company said its outlook assumes the current U.S. policy environment persists and that permitting processes and timelines remain consistent with historical levels. It is not providing forward-looking guidance for GAAP net income.