First Solar, Inc. Shares Rise On Profit, FireEye Inc Beats Guidance

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First Solar and FireEye released their latest earnings reports after closing bell tonight. First Solar posted non-GAAP earnings of 25 cents per share on $892 million in revenue, compared to the Wall Street estimates of losses of 12 cents per share on $637.9 million in revenue.

FireEye reported non-GAAP losses of 9 cents per share on $173.7 million in revenue, against the analyst consensus estimates of 26 cents per share in losses and $163.5 million in revenue. In last year’s first quarter, the cyber-security firm reported adjusted losses of 47 cents per share on $168 billion in revenue. FireEye had guided for revenue of $160 million to $166 million and adjusted losses of 26 cents to 28 cents per share.

First Solar swings to profit

First Solar posted GAAP earnings of 9 cents per share, compared to GAAP losses of $7.22 per share in the year-ago quarter. The company said sales of the Moapa project boosted its results during the first quarter.

First Solar also boosted its guidance for this year, saying it now expects $2.85 billion to $2.95 billion in net sales compared to the previous outlook of $2.8 billion to $2.9 billion. The company expects a GAAP gross margin of 12.5% to 14.5%, versus the previous outlook of 11% to 13%. First Solar also updated its GAAP earnings per share range to between a loss of 30 cents to a profit of 40 cents per share, while it had previously been expecting to post a GAAP loss for the full year. The company now expects adjusted earnings of 25 cents to 75 cents per share, versus the previous guide of between breakeven and profits of 50 cents per share. It continues to look for shipments of 2.4 gigawatts to 2.6 gigawatts of shipments.

A trio of firms have upgraded First Solar over the last week or so, with the main driver not being anything the company itself is doing. Instead, the focus has been on a petition filed by Suniva, a manufacturer of solar cells and modules that recently filed for bankruptcy. Suniva is urging the U.S. International Trade Commission to invoke a temporary tariff on solar modules and cells imported from China. It said that these products are being sold at below-market prices, so it wants tariffs to raise the prices of solar cells and panels imported from China so that it will be easier for U.S. solar firms to compete.

First Solar shares surged by as much as 7.03% to $32.45 in after-hours trading.

FireEye’s losses narrow

FireEye

FireEye’s GAAP losses narrowed to 48 cents per share from the year-ago quarter’s 98 cents per share in GAAP losses. Billings fell 18% year over year to $152.4 million, although that still beat the guidance range of $130 million to $150 million. The company’s GAAP gross margin improved to 63%, while its non-GAAP gross margin rose to 73%, beating the guidance of about 70%. Product revenue fell to $23.7 million, while subscription and services revenue rose to $150 million.

For the second quarter, FireEye expects revenue to be between $173 million and $179 million and billings to be between $155 million and $175 million. The company expects a non-GAAP gross margin of about 72% and adjusted losses of 10 cents to 14 cents per share. For the full year, it projects revenue of $724 million to $736 million, billings of $745 million to $775 million, and adjusted losses of 26 cents to 36 cents per share.

Shares of FireEye were unchanged in after-hours trades at $12.21. The stock was halted pending news.

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