EX-99.1 2 ex991pressreleaseq3-2026.htm EX-99.1

EXHIBIT 99.1

News Release

First Solar, Inc. Announces Third Quarter 2026 Financial Results, Updates Guidance, and Announces $500 Million Share Repurchase Program

•Net sales of $1.23 billion, a decrease of 23% year-over-year

•Net income per diluted share of $5.30, an increase of 25% year-over-year

•Adjusted EBITDA1 of $744 million, an increase of 11% year-over-year

•Gross cash balance of $1.6 billion and net cash balance of $1.5 billion

•First Solar board of directors authorizes $500 million share repurchase program

•Contracted sales backlog of 44.0 GW as of September 30, 2026

PHOENIX, Arizona, October 29, 2026 – First Solar, Inc. (Nasdaq: FSLR) (the “Company”), America’s leading PV solar technology and manufacturing company, today announced financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2026 and updated its 2026 guidance.

Net sales were $1.23 billion for the third quarter of 2026, a 23% decrease compared to the third quarter of 2025, driven primarily by a decrease in the volume of modules sold to third parties.

The Company reported third quarter net income of $571 million, or $5.30 per diluted share, compared to $456 million, or $4.24 per diluted share, in the third quarter of 2025. Adjusted EBITDA was $744 million compared to $671 million in the third quarter of 2025.

Net cash balance decreased to $1.5 billion as of September 30, 2026 from $2.4 billion as of December 31, 2025, driven by working-capital needs and capital expenditures primarily for our U.S. facilities, partially offset by Section 45X cash receipts and IEEPA tariff refunds received.

“Section 232 represents a structural change in how the United States approaches solar manufacturing,” said Mark Widmar, Chief Executive Officer. “As a technology company and the only fully-integrated utility-scale solar manufacturer without dependency on the Chinese crystalline silicon supply chain, we believe we are structurally positioned to benefit from this environment.”

Additionally, the Company’s board of directors authorized a share repurchase program of up to $500 million, effective immediately. This authorization reflects confidence in the long-term value of the business while preserving our disciplined approach to capital allocation and ability to continue investing in technology development and growth. The timing and amount of share repurchases will be determined by the Company based on its evaluation of market conditions and other factors. The share repurchase authorization has no expiration date, does not obligate the Company to acquire any particular amount of shares, and may be suspended or discontinued at any time.

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1 See “Non-GAAP Financial Measures” for additional information on Adjusted EBITDA and a reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to net income, which is the most directly comparable GAAP measure.

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Our updated 2026 guidance is summarized below:

Prior

Current

Volume Sold

17.0GW

to

18.2GW

16.0GW

to

17.0GW

Net Sales

$4.9B

to

$5.2B

$4.6B

to

$4.9B

Gross Profit(1)

$2.4B

to

$2.6B

Unchanged

Operating Expenses(2)

$610M

to

$635M

Unchanged

Adjusted EBITDA(3)

$2.6B

to

$2.8B

$2.55B

to

$2.75B

Capital Expenditures

$0.8B

to

$1.0B

$0.6B

to

$0.8B

Net Cash Balance(4)

$1.7B

to

$2.3B

Unchanged

——————————

1.Assumes $2.07 billion to $2.19 billion of Section 45X tax credits and underutilization costs of $110 million to $120 million.

2.Assumes $80 million to $90 million of production start-up expense.

3.Adjusted EBITDA reflects addbacks of approximately $201 million for share-based compensation, Section 45X tax credit discounts, underutilization, and production start-up expenses. See “Non-GAAP Financial Measures” for additional information on Adjusted EBITDA.

4.Net Cash is defined as cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash, restricted cash equivalents, and marketable securities, less expected debt at December 31, 2026. Expected debt excludes factoring arrangements with recourse.

From a fourth quarter earnings cadence perspective, we anticipate our module sales to be between 4.3 GW and 5.3 GW, including 3.4 GW to 4.3 GW from our U.S. manufacturing operations. These factors are expected to result in forecasted fourth quarter Adjusted EBITDA between $643 million and $843 million.

The guidance figures presented above are forward-looking statements that are subject to a variety of assumptions and estimates, including with respect to the impact of public policies, such as tariffs, export controls, or other trade remedies, freight-related costs, and certain factors related to the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (the “IRA”), as amended by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025. Our outlook assumes the current U.S. policy environment persists, and in addition, that permitting processes and timelines will remain consistent with historical levels. Investors are encouraged to listen to the conference call and to review the accompanying materials, which contain more information about First Solar’s third quarter 2026 financial results, 2026 guidance, and financial outlook.

We are not providing forward-looking guidance for GAAP net income or a quantitative reconciliation of the Adjusted EBITDA guidance range to GAAP net income, the most directly comparable GAAP measure, because we are unable to predict with reasonable certainty the potential occurrence, financial impact, or recognition period of significant items, such as share-based compensation, Section 45X tax credit discounts, contingencies, and certain other gains or losses, as well as related income tax accounting because such items have not occurred, are out of our control, and/or cannot be reasonably predicted without unreasonable effort. These significant items are uncertain, depend on various factors, and could have a material impact on GAAP reported results for the guidance period. See “Non-GAAP Financial Measures” for more information on Adjusted EBITDA, including identification of significant items that we believe are not indicative of our ongoing operations.

Conference Call Details

First Solar has scheduled a conference call for today, October 29, 2026, at 4:30 p.m. ET, to discuss this announcement. A live webcast of this conference call and accompanying materials are available at investor.firstsolar.com. A replay of the webcast will also be available on the Investors section of the Company’s website approximately two hours after the conclusion of the call and remain available for 30 days.

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About First Solar, Inc.

First Solar, Inc. is America's leading photovoltaic (“PV”) solar technology and manufacturing company. The only U.S.-headquartered company among the world's largest solar manufacturers, First Solar is focused on competitively and reliably enabling power generation needs with our advanced, uniquely American thin film PV technology. Developed at research and development (“R&D”) labs in California and Ohio, our technology provides a competitive, high-performance, and responsibly produced alternative to conventional crystalline silicon PV solar modules. Our PV solar modules are produced using a fully integrated, continuous process that does not rely on Chinese crystalline silicon supply chains. For more information, please visit www.firstsolar.com.

For First Solar Investors

This release contains forward-looking statements which are made pursuant to safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements in this release, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements concerning: demand for solar technology generally and for our technology specifically, including in the U.S. market, and our positioning to serve such demand; new capacity coming online; our expectations regarding the political and trade environment and its impacts; production and delivery of our modules; our financial guidance for 2026, including future financial results, net sales, gross profit, operating expenses, Adjusted EBITDA, net cash balance, capital expenditures, expected earnings cadence, volume sold, bookings, and expected module shipments; products and our business and financial objectives for 2026; the availability of benefits under certain production linked incentive programs; the impact of the IRA as amended by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025, including the Section 45X tax credits; our expectations regarding the sale of our Section 45X tax credits; the impact of public policies such as tariffs, export controls or other trade remedies; and expectations regarding our share repurchase program. These forward-looking statements are often characterized by the use of words such as “estimate,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “project,” “plan,” “intend,” “seek,” “believe,” “forecast,” “foresee,” “likely,” “may,” “should,” “goal,” “target,” “might,” “will,” “could,” “predict,” “continue,” “contingent,” and the negative or plural of these words and other comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements are only predictions based on our current expectations and our projections about future events and therefore speak only as of the date of this release. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to update any of these forward-looking statements for any reason, whether as a result of new information, future developments, or otherwise. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by our forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to: structural imbalances in global supply and demand for PV solar modules; our competitive position and other key competitive factors; the market for renewable energy, including solar energy; the modification, reduction, elimination, or expiration of government subsidies, economic incentives, tax incentives, renewable energy targets, and other support for on-grid solar electricity applications; the impact of public policies, such as tariffs, export controls, or other trade remedies imposed on solar cells and modules or related raw materials or equipment; interest rate fluctuations and our customers’ ability to secure financing; our ability to execute on our long-term strategic plans, including our ability to secure financing and realize the potential benefits of strategic acquisitions and investments; the loss of any of our large customers, or the inability of our customers and counterparties to perform under their contracts with us, including through terminations by customers of any contract in part or in full; our ability to execute on our solar module technology and cost reduction roadmaps; the performance of our solar modules upon installation; our ability to improve the wattage of our solar modules; our ability to incorporate technology improvements into our manufacturing process, including the implementation of our Copper Replacement (“CuRe”) program; our ability to attract new customers and to develop and maintain existing customer and supplier relationships; general economic and business conditions, including those influenced by U.S., international, and geopolitical events and conflicts; environmental responsibility, including with respect to cadmium telluride (“CdTe”) and other semiconductor materials; claims under our limited warranty obligations; changes in, or the failure to comply with, government regulations and environmental, health, and safety requirements; effects arising from and results of pending litigation; future collection and recycling costs for solar modules covered by our module collection and recycling program or otherwise as required by external laws and regulations; supply chain disruptions; our ability to protect or

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successfully commercialize our intellectual property; our ability to prevent and/or minimize the impact of cybersecurity incidents or information or security breaches; our continued investments in R&D; the supply and price of key raw materials (including CdTe, tellurium, and tellurium compounds), components, and manufacturing equipment; our ability to construct new production facilities to support new product lines; evolving corporate governance and public disclosure regulations and expectations, including with respect to environmental, social, and governance matters; our ability to avoid manufacturing interruptions, including during the ramp of new module manufacturing facilities; our ability to attract, train, retain, and successfully integrate key talent into our team; the severity and duration of public health threats, and the potential impact on our business, financial condition, and results of operations; and the matters discussed under the captions “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” of our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, as supplemented by our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Contacts

First Solar Investors                             First Solar Media

investor@firstsolar.com                            media@firstsolar.com

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FIRST SOLAR, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

(In thousands, except share data)

						September 30, 2026						December 31, 2025
ASSETS
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents						$	1,576,003					$	2,803,514
Marketable securities						48,072						51,849
Accounts receivable trade, net						1,591,024						1,294,040
Government grants receivable, net						286,938						499,592
Inventories						1,138,584						736,734
Other current assets						667,284						643,103
Total current assets						5,307,905						6,028,832
Property, plant and equipment, net						5,633,874						5,675,794
Deferred tax assets, net						221,229						194,672
Restricted marketable securities						202,497						217,172
Government grants receivable						1,587,950						125,607
Goodwill						29,803						31,095
Intangible assets, net						61,364						51,007
Inventories						174,897						237,462
Other assets						800,497						759,669
Total assets						$	14,020,016					$	13,321,310
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable						$	338,201					$	405,775
Income taxes payable						54,285						7,490
Accrued expenses						430,079						519,414
Current portion of debt						107,668						215,979
Deferred revenue						1,006,089						1,014,386
Other current liabilities						128,345						91,058
Total current liabilities						2,064,667						2,254,102
Accrued solar module collection and recycling liability						145,907						146,017
Long-term debt						—						282,593
Deferred revenue						591,384						805,018
Other liabilities						337,325						295,587
Total liabilities						3,139,283						3,783,317
Commitments and contingencies
Stockholders’ equity:
Common stock, $0.001 par value per share; 500,000,000 shares authorized; 107,481,115 and 107,309,794 shares issued and outstanding at September 30, 2026 and December 31, 2025, respectively						107						107
Additional paid-in capital						2,924,156						2,902,013
Accumulated earnings						8,131,590						6,791,339
Accumulated other comprehensive loss						(175,120)						(155,466)
Total stockholders’ equity						10,880,733						9,537,993
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity						$	14,020,016					$	13,321,310

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FIRST SOLAR, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

(In thousands, except per share amounts)

						Three Months Ended															Nine Months Ended
						September 30, 2026						September 30, 2025									September 30, 2026						September 30, 2025
Net sales						$	1,230,936					$	1,594,856								$	3,331,369					$	3,536,594
Cost of sales						517,876						984,111									1,527,174						2,081,596
Gross profit						713,060						610,745									1,804,195						1,454,998
Operating expenses:
Selling, general and administrative						65,326						47,324									182,604						153,078
Research and development						67,223						60,592									210,410						167,468
Production start-up						34,403						36,734									69,384						85,506
Total operating expenses						166,952						144,650									462,398						406,052
Operating income						546,108						466,095									1,341,797						1,048,946
Foreign currency gain (loss), net						90						(8,903)									(22,961)						(30,224)
Interest income						24,151						23,308									82,933						54,273
Interest expense, net						(2,390)						(14,121)									(15,568)						(32,830)
Other expense, net						(1,930)						(6,034)									(6,461)						(10,594)
Income before taxes						566,029						460,345									1,379,740						1,029,571
Income tax benefit (expense)						5,034						(4,402)									(39,489)						(22,225)
Net income						$	571,063					$	455,943								$	1,340,251					$	1,007,346
Net income per share:
Basic						$	5.31					$	4.25								$	12.48					$	9.40
Diluted						$	5.30					$	4.24								$	12.45					$	9.37
Weighted-average number of shares used in per share calculations:
Basic						107,472						107,264									107,430						107,211
Diluted						107,702						107,538									107,666						107,492

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FIRST SOLAR, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

(In thousands)

						Nine Months Ended September 30,
						2026						2025
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net income						$	1,340,251					$	1,007,346
Adjustments to reconcile net income to cash (used in) provided by operating activities:
Depreciation and amortization						443,266						380,529
Share-based compensation						22,904						16,713
Deferred income taxes						(37,466)						26,477
Other, net						43,196						36,274
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
Accounts receivable, trade						(290,973)						(196,967)
Inventories						(348,993)						(679)
Government grants receivable						(1,285,786)						(442,010)
Other assets						15,328						(150,159)
Income tax receivable and payable						56,711						(44,684)
Accounts payable and accrued expenses						(147,210)						(164,194)
Deferred revenue						(220,745)						262,877
Other liabilities						6,803						83,689
Net cash (used in) provided by operating activities						(402,714)						815,212
Cash flows from investing activities:
Purchases of property, plant and equipment						(434,662)						(698,148)
Purchases of marketable securities and restricted marketable securities						(1,824,044)						(1,307,656)
Proceeds from sales and maturities of marketable securities						1,824,833						1,424,918
Other investing activities						5,806						2,952
Net cash used in investing activities						(428,067)						(577,934)
Cash flows from financing activities:
Proceeds from borrowings under debt arrangements, net of issuance costs						339,960						309,047
Repayment of debt						(732,121)						(357,515)
Proceeds from other borrowings						—						487,323
Repayment of other borrowings						—						(298,407)
Payments of tax withholdings for restricted shares						(945)						(15,479)
Other financing activities						(874)						(527)
Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities						(393,980)						124,442
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash, and restricted cash equivalents						3,670						2,021
Net (decrease) increase in cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash, and restricted cash equivalents						(1,221,091)						363,741
Cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash, and restricted cash equivalents, beginning of the period						2,814,031						1,638,223
Cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash, and restricted cash equivalents, end of the period						$	1,592,940					$	2,001,964
Supplemental disclosure of noncash investing and financing activities:
Property, plant and equipment acquisitions funded by liabilities						$	128,461					$	222,115
Proceeds to be received from asset-based government grants						$	111,681					$	149,775

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Non-GAAP Financial Measures

This press release includes earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (“EBITDA”), EBITDA Margin, Adjusted EBITDA, and Adjusted EBITDA Margin, non‑GAAP measures to provide supplemental information to our U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) results. These non‑GAAP measures are not prepared in accordance with GAAP and should not be considered a substitute for, or superior to, the most directly comparable GAAP measure, net income, and net income margin. Investors should review our financial information in its entirety and not rely on any single financial measure.

First Solar’s management uses these non-GAAP financial measures to better understand and compare operating results across periods. Management believes these non-GAAP financial measures reflect First Solar’s ongoing business in a manner that will allow for meaningful period-to-period comparisons and analysis of trends in First Solar’s business. Management also believes that these non-GAAP financial measures provide useful information to investors and others to understand and evaluate First Solar’s operating results and prospects in the same manner as management.

The following are explanations of each of the adjustments that we incorporate into Adjusted EBITDA, as well as the reasons we add back each of these individual items to determine Adjusted EBITDA:

1.Foreign currency (loss), net: Refers to the net effect of gains and losses resulting from holding assets and liabilities and conducting transactions denominated in currencies other than our subsidiaries’ functional currencies. Foreign currency is excluded because the timing of such currency‑related impacts is uncertain and may obscure underlying operating performance and trends.

2.Other expense, net: Primarily comprises miscellaneous items and financing fees, such as gains/losses on investments or other discrete non‑operating items. These amounts are generally driven by market factors, financing and investment decisions, or one‑time transactions rather than core operations and can be volatile across periods.

3.Share‑based compensation: Is a non‑cash charge reflecting the grant‑date fair value of equity awards recognized over vesting periods. We exclude it because it is significantly influenced by equity program design and stock price volatility, limiting comparability across companies and periods.

4.Section 45X tax credit discounts: When we sell Section 45X tax credits, the cash proceeds received may be less than the notional credit amount due to market pricing, counterparty terms, and payment timing. Economically, this shortfall is akin to a financing cost — the cost of converting a future cash benefit into earlier liquidity — rather than a reflection of underlying manufacturing performance. We therefore exclude these transfer discounts from Adjusted EBITDA to improve comparability across periods and to separate core operating results from financing/monetization decisions.

5.Underutilization (unallocated fixed production overhead): If our plant utilization is abnormally low, the portion of our indirect manufacturing costs related to the abnormal utilization level is expensed as incurred rather than absorbed into inventory. We exclude these costs because they are sensitive to timing, production curtailments, and transitory disruptions.

6.Production start‑up: Consists of costs associated with operating a production line before it is qualified for commercial production, including the cost of raw materials for solar modules run through the production line during the qualification phase, employee compensation for individuals supporting production start-up activities, and applicable facility related costs. Production start-up expense also includes costs related to the selection of a new site and implementation costs for manufacturing process improvements to the extent we cannot capitalize these expenditures. We exclude these costs because they are driven by discrete expansion and launch activities and are not reflective of our ordinary operating performance. These costs are typically incurred over a defined ramp‑up period, can vary significantly based on the timing and scale of new expansions, and may not be indicative of our run‑rate cost structure once a facility or initiative reaches normal utilization levels.

Management believes adjusting our GAAP results for the items described above to determine Adjusted EBITDA is useful to investors in assessing underlying operating performance and comparing period-to-period results, because these items (i) are largely non‑cash, (ii) can vary significantly based on timing of capacity ramps, start‑ups, and discrete events, or (iii) are not reflective of our ongoing operating cost structure.

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EBITDA Margin and Adjusted EBITDA Margin are calculated as EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA, respectively, divided by net sales. The most directly comparable GAAP measure is net income margin, calculated as net income divided by net sales.

Our presentation of EBITDA, EBITDA Margin, Adjusted EBITDA, and Adjusted EBITDA Margin should not be construed as an implication that our actual future results will be unaffected by the items contemplated by the adjustments described above. Our presentation of EBITDA, EBITDA Margin, Adjusted EBITDA, and Adjusted EBITDA Margin has limitations, including (among others):

•it does not reflect all of our cash expenditures;

•it does not reflect changes in our working capital needs;

•it does not reflect the discount on the sale of our Section 45X credits;

•it does not reflect the interest expense on our indebtedness;

•it does not reflect any income tax expenses we may incur or payments we may be required to make; and

•it does not reflect the impact of capacity ramps, start-ups, and discrete charges resulting from certain matters that we believe may not be indicative of our ongoing operations.

Other companies in our industry may calculate EBITDA, EBITDA Margin, Adjusted EBITDA, and Adjusted EBITDA Margin differently than we do because they do not have standardized definitions, which limits their usefulness as comparative measures in relation to other companies.

FIRST SOLAR, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

UNAUDITED RECONCILIATION OF GAAP TO NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES

(In thousands)

						Three Months Ended
						September 30, 2026									September 30, 2025
Net income and net income margin(1)						$	571,063		46%						$	455,943		29%
Interest income						(24,151)									(23,308)
Interest expense, net						2,390									14,121
Income tax (benefit) expense						(5,034)									4,402
Depreciation and amortization						148,028									132,273
EBITDA and EBITDA Margin(1)						692,296			56%						583,431			37%
Foreign currency (gain) loss, net						(90)									8,903
Other expense, net						1,930									6,034
Share-based compensation						9,078									7,319
Section 45X tax credit discounts						—									15,652
Underutilization, excluding depreciation and amortization						9,997									22,456
Production start-up, excluding depreciation and amortization						30,791									27,669
Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margin(1)						$	744,002		60%						$	671,464		42%

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1.Net sales were $1.23 billion and $1.59 billion for the three months ended September 30, 2026 and 2025, respectively.

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						Nine Months Ended
						September 30, 2026									September 30, 2025
Net income and net income margin(1)						$	1,340,251		40%						$	1,007,346		28%
Interest income						(82,933)									(54,273)
Interest expense, net						15,568									32,830
Income tax expense						39,489									22,225
Depreciation and amortization						443,266									380,529
EBITDA and EBITDA Margin(1)						1,755,641			53%						1,388,657			39%
Foreign currency loss, net						22,961									30,224
Other expense, net						6,461									10,594
Share-based compensation						22,904									16,713
Section 45X tax credit discounts						—									44,639
Underutilization, excluding depreciation and amortization						36,891									43,691
Production start-up, excluding depreciation and amortization						62,586									76,215
Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margin(1)						$	1,907,444		57%						$	1,610,733		46%

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1.Net sales were $3.33 billion and $3.54 billion for the nine months ended September 30, 2026 and 2025, respectively.

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