FSLRFirst Solar
Is the business good?
A genuinely good business: 8 of 9 health tests passed, earnings fully cash-backed (1.2×), and margins widening.
High fundamental quality. Nine pass/fail tests of year-over-year health from the filings.
Operating profit is fully backed by cash. Conversion is improving vs a year ago.
Positive operating leverage, operating profit is growing faster than sales, so margins widen as the business scales.
Margin-driven, fat margins on slower asset turns. ROE 16% = margin × turnover × leverage.
Unless marked, from derived.
Against the whole market›
Percentile against every name Ryufin tracks. Higher is better; the tick marks the middle of the market. Context, not one of the checks above.
Where this answer is blind. The F-score rewards improvement, so an already-elite company can score mid-pack.
How good a business is FSLR?
First Solar earns 17% on the capital it employs against a 9.0% cost of capital, so the business is worth more the bigger it gets.
Return on invested capital · cost of capital 9.0% · 7.6 points above what the capital costs: growth creates value
- Operating margin
- 34%
Operating margin · Solar median 4.8% · 12 months to Q2 2026
- Cash conversion
- 1.25×
Cash conversion · 0.23× a year ago · operating cash flow covers the operating profit after tax
- Share count, year on year
- +0.20%
Share count, year on year · flat: no meaningful dilution
| Year | Operating margin |
|---|---|
| FY2020 | 12% |
| FY2021 | 20% |
| FY2022 | −1.0% |
| FY2023 | 26% |
| FY2024 | 33% |
| FY2025 | 31% |
Details›
- Gross margin12 months to Q2 2026
- 44%
- Operating margin12 months to Q2 2026
- 34%
- Net margin12 months to Q2 2026
- 32%
- Free cash flow margin
- 28%
- R&D as % of revenue
- 5.0%
- Revenue, trailing twelve months
- $5.38B
- Free cash flow, trailing twelve months
- $1.50B
- Net income, trailing twelve months
- $1.75B
- Return on invested capitaloperating profit after tax ÷ debt + equity − cash
- 17%
Margins, capital and share counts from the statements as filed with the SEC; cash conversion is operating cash flow over operating profit after tax.
Solar
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