First Solar downgraded to Sell from Buy at GLJ Research

GLJ Research analyst Gordon Johnson double downgraded First Solar to Sell from Buy with a price target of $46.80, down from $138.40, which represents 72% downside from yesterday’s closing price. The shares are "priced for perfection" into a "(very) imperfect environment," Johnson tells investors in a research note. First Solar in 2023 "will have to show and prove," says the analyst. He sees the company’s 2023 being exacerbated by contracts that have adjustable pricing, the likely "imminent collapse" in polysilicon prices on a "record surge" in supply in Q4 of 2022, and heightened competition against a backdrop of a "materially lower" total addressable market for solar tax equity dollars. The analyst expects First Solar’s fundamentals to come under increased pressure throughout 2023.