Roth Capital analyst Philip Shen maintained a Buy rating on First Solar but cut his price target to $60 ahead of the company's February 21 earnings report. In a research note to investors, Shen says he sees some risk to shares heading into the report, as checks with multiple contacts suggest S6 bins may be ~5W lower-than-expected, and S6 manufacturing throughput may slower-than-expected. Sheh predicts the challenges could represent a ~1%-4% headwind to 2019 S6 margins. Though he believes this is solvable, and says the impact to long-term value could be modest, though he sees the potential for near-term share weakness.

Wells Fargo notes that a group of seven domestic solar product makers, including First Solar (FSLR), filed a petition to levy anti-dumping and countervailing duties on solar imports from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, looking for duties ranging from 70.4% to 271.5%. The firm, which included the "important reminder" that "this is just a petition," says the uncertainty created by the petition is "incrementally positive" for First Solar and negative for Canadian Solar (CSIQ), Array Technologies (ARRY) and Nextracker (NXT).