First Solar (FSLR) Earnings: Q3 2026 Results

The quarter ended September 30, 2026 and First Solar published the results on October 29, 2026. Revenue and diluted EPS are shown against Q3 2025, the same quarter a year earlier, which takes seasonal swings out of the comparison.

• First Solar operates as a single operating segment, the design, manufacture and sale of CdTe solar modules, so no segment table is shown.
• First Solar does not report an adjusted EPS. Its non-GAAP measure is Adjusted EBITDA.

Source: First Solar Q3 2026 results, October 29, 2026. Also in the Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2026. Figures as reported; checked against the release on November 10, 2026.

From the earnings release

First Solar's release also carries a 2026 guidance table: net sales of $4.6 billion to $4.9 billion (prior $4.9 billion to $5.2 billion) on 16.0 GW to 17.0 GW sold.

In its Q3 2026 release, First Solar said:

“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.”

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

“Our outlook assumes the current U.S. policy environment persists, and in addition, that permitting processes and timelines will remain consistent with historical levels.”

Source: First Solar Q3 2026 release, Oct 29, 2026.

This is the company's own guidance as of Oct 29, 2026, quoted as given. Walnut does not make forecasts of its own. Analyst estimates for the coming quarters are on the FSLR forecast page.

Revenue and diluted EPS for the last 5 quarters. Each date links to that quarter's release.

GAAP figures, each as first reported in that quarter's release. First Solar prints net sales in thousands; they are rounded here to one decimal in millions.

We do not hold a confirmed date for First Solar's next report. Companies post the date on their investor relations site a few weeks ahead, usually with the time of the conference call.

Each quarter keeps its own page with the figures as reported, so a link to one stays pointed at the same numbers after the next report.

• Q3 2026 (this page), reported Oct 29, 2026

First Solar's net sales were $1.23 billion in Q3 2026, down 22.8%, or $363.9 million, from the year-ago quarter. First Solar said the drop came primarily from a lower volume of modules sold to third parties, which the 10-Q puts at 22.0%, and from lower revenue associated with customer contract terminations. It produced 4.3 GW and sold 4.1 GW of modules, against 3.6 GW produced and 5.3 GW sold a year earlier. (First Solar Q3 2026 release, Oct 29, 2026; First Solar Form 10-Q, Q3 2026, Oct 29, 2026)

First Solar operates as a single segment that designs, manufactures and sells cadmium telluride (CdTe) solar modules, with factories in the United States, India, Malaysia and Vietnam. Its customers are system developers, independent power producers, utilities and large corporate energy buyers. The United States accounted for 96% of 2025 net sales, and Silicon Ranch Corporation and NextEra Energy each accounted for 10% or more of modules business net sales that year. (First Solar Form 10-Q, Q3 2026, Oct 29, 2026; First Solar Form 10-K, 2025, Feb 24, 2026)

At September 30, 2026 First Solar had contracts for the future sale of 44.0 GW of modules for an aggregate transaction price of $13.5 billion, which it expects to recognize as revenue through 2030. That figure excludes contracts with customers in India for which payment has not been fully secured. (First Solar Form 10-Q, Q3 2026, Oct 29, 2026)

Pricing moved with trade policy. Over the first nine months First Solar's average selling price per watt fell 1.4%, mainly because of estimated payments to customers for IEEPA tariff refunds, and the company received payment for substantially all of its own IEEPA refund claims in Q3 2026. The 10-Q says that after the Section 232 investigation into polysilicon concluded, U.S. module prices are generally expected to increase. (First Solar Form 10-Q, Q3 2026, Oct 29, 2026)

First Solar's diluted EPS rose 25% to $5.30 from $4.24, and net income to $571 million from $456 million, while sales fell. Gross margin rose 19.6 percentage points to 57.9% from 38.3%, which the 10-Q attributes to a higher volume of modules qualifying for the Section 45X advanced manufacturing production credit and a higher sales price per watt. Adjusted EBITDA was $744 million against $671 million. (First Solar Q3 2026 release, Oct 29, 2026; First Solar Form 10-Q, Q3 2026, Oct 29, 2026)

First Solar books Section 45X credits as a reduction to cost of sales. Income-related government grants cut cost of sales by $638.0 million in the quarter, against $396.3 million. Cost of sales fell $466.2 million: credits on more qualifying modules took off $237.7 million, lower volume $229.9 million and logistics $55.7 million, partly offset by $118.9 million of higher production costs from a larger mix of U.S.-produced modules. (First Solar Form 10-Q, Q3 2026, Oct 29, 2026)

First Solar recorded an income tax benefit of $5.0 million, against expense of $4.4 million a year earlier. Its nine-month effective tax rate was 2.9%, against 2.2%, raised by global minimum tax under Pillar Two. Diluted shares were 107,702 thousand against 107,538 thousand, and with the Q3 release First Solar announced a board-authorized share repurchase program of up to $500 million with no expiration date. (First Solar Q3 2026 release, Oct 29, 2026; First Solar Form 10-Q, Q3 2026, Oct 29, 2026)

Diluted EPS divides net income by the weighted average number of shares outstanding in the quarter, plus the shares that options and other equity awards could add. Buybacks shrink that count and lift EPS for the same profit; share issuance and stock awards enlarge it.

First Solar gives full-year guidance in its release. With Q3 2026 results it lowered volume sold to 16.0 GW to 17.0 GW, from 17.0 GW to 18.2 GW, net sales to $4.6 billion to $4.9 billion, from $4.9 billion to $5.2 billion, and Adjusted EBITDA to $2.55 billion to $2.75 billion, from $2.6 billion to $2.8 billion. Gross profit of $2.4 billion to $2.6 billion, operating expenses of $610 million to $635 million and a net cash balance of $1.7 billion to $2.3 billion were unchanged, and capital expenditures were cut to $0.6 billion to $0.8 billion. (First Solar Q3 2026 release, Oct 29, 2026)

For Q4 2026 First Solar expects module sales of 4.3 GW to 5.3 GW, of which 3.4 GW to 4.3 GW from U.S. manufacturing, and Adjusted EBITDA of $643 million to $843 million. It does not give guidance for GAAP net income. (First Solar Q3 2026 release, Oct 29, 2026)

A consensus figure is the average of the models published by the analysts who cover First Solar, collected by a data provider and revised up to the day of the report. A quarter that lands above it says how expectations were set as much as how the business did, and the share price on the day also reflects the guidance and the lines no consensus covers.

The consensus figures on this page are Yahoo Finance's, as pulled on the date shown. Each comes with the number of analysts behind it; the smaller that number, the more one revised estimate can move the average.

The figures below are the ones First Solar's own release and filings put weight on for Q3 2026, with the latest reported value for each.

What the quarter means for a holding is a separate question from what it reported. The case for and against owning FSLR is on is FSLR a buy or a sell?, what analysts expect next is on the FSLR forecast, and what the company does is on the First Solar (FSLR) stock page.

Every number on this page can be traced to a document First Solar published. Checking one takes a couple of minutes, and it is worth doing before you quote a figure anywhere.

• The results release is the document linked in the source line above. Companies publish it on their investor relations site at the moment results go out, and it carries the headline tables: revenue, operating income, net income and EPS for the quarter and the year-ago quarter.
• The same release is filed with the SEC as Exhibit 99.1 to a Form 8-K under Item 2.02, usually on the day of the report. The SEC copy does not change after the fact, which makes it the safer thing to link when you cite a number.
• The quarterly report (Form 10-Q) follows within a few weeks and carries the full financial statements, the segment note and management's discussion of what changed. The fourth quarter is covered by the annual report (Form 10-K) instead.
• Restated comparisons are flagged in the notes on this page. When a company redraws its segments or changes how it adjusts EPS, it restates the year-ago column, so the year-ago figure in a new release can differ from the one printed a year ago. This page always uses the comparison in the newer release, because that is the like-for-like one.

A walk-through of every line in a release, with what each one tells you, is in how to read an earnings report.