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What's going on

The stock fell 10.3% because shares of U.S. solar manufacturer First Solar are down as elevated borrowing costs weigh heavily on solar stocks, with other solar names also dropping that day. A direct company-specific reason for the drop has not been established; rising interest rates are likely the main culprit because many customers develop large utility-scale solar projects that require a lot of money upfront before generating revenue. There was also a secondary, smaller company-specific factor days earlier: on September 15, 2026, First Solar said it would voluntarily withdraw its Section 337 complaint at the USITC without prejudice and continue pursuing existing TOPCon patent lawsuits in U.S. District Court, which is a procedural shift in a patent fight, not a lost case.

The case for it

First Solar is highly profitable (32.5% net margin), has almost no debt (1.9% debt/equity) and trades at just 10.6x trailing earnings — cheap even by its own historical standards. The selloff looks macro-driven (higher interest rates hurt all solar-project financing) rather than a sign the company itself is broken, and management just reaffirmed full-year guidance during the drop, plus First Solar reaffirmed full-year guidance during a volatile session. Wall Street analysts largely still like it: Wall Street's answer still tilts toward buy, with 21 of 29 analysts recommending Buy... and an average 12-month price target of $268.25, representing about 56% upside.

What could go wrong

Revenue growth is already negative (-3.7%), and there is real uncertainty clouding the outlook: First Solar fell sharply after a broad solar-sector selloff tied to higher Treasury yields and tougher financing conditions, with weaker booking visibility, analyst target cuts, and ongoing trade-policy uncertainty. There's also litigation overhang — a securities class action was filed against the company earlier in 2026 (per CNN listings), and insiders have been selling heavily with no buying, which is a soft warning sign. If rates stay elevated for a long time, utility-scale solar demand could genuinely soften, not just get delayed — that's the scenario where "cheap" turns into "cheap for a reason."