David Phillips of 10Q Detective wrote up a great piece on why First Solar (FSLR) should abandon its China strategy. The US solar behemoth made headlines a year ago when it announced it would work with the China government and local businesses to develop a massive 2GW solar farm to power up to 3 million homes.
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Phillips suggests FSLR abandon it’s strategy in China for several reasons..
– the project has already stalled.. although the company says construction is expected to begin next year
– the costs will be too high and subsidies too low to provide a return
– it’s very difficult to compete in China as China favors its own.. something the US should learn from
– FSLR would have to share its proprietary technology, opening up risk of Chinese stealing proprietary manufacturing processes. Phillips highlights Vestas Wind as a prime example of this
While shares of FSLR have looked increasingly bullish in recent weeks, it’s a bit overstretched in the short term and may need to pull back to the 132 – 138 range which provide an area to add shares in my opinion.