very good/E+ via Getty Images A Sell Rating Was The Way To Go Rating First Solar ( FSLR ) a "S ell" back in December seems, in hindsight, like the right decision. The stock had surged in price before my first article. Not long afterward the stock started to decline, and the return has been a negative 17.06% since my article came out. I remember I did face some pushback on the article, as sentiment...
very good/E+ via Getty Images A Sell Rating Was The Way To Go Rating First Solar ( FSLR ) a "S ell" back in December seems, in hindsight, like the right decision. The stock had surged in price before my first article. Not long afterward the stock started to decline, and the return has been a negative 17.06% since my article came out. I remember I did face some pushback on the article, as sentiment still appears to be bullish for the stock, at least on the retail side. Looking at the articles that have been published on FSLR, I’ve been the only one issuing a "S ell" rating out of the past 10 published. Since Last Coverage (Seeking Alpha) The main issue that I talked about still exists now: backlog depletion with no real sign of being replenished. My concerns were further exaggerated when I mapped out the past 5 years of total order backlog and the gross bookings that have come What this shows is that the ratio between adding new orders and the total has gone way down That about sums up the core bearish thesis for FSLR right now. The company has been on a fantastic run and able to grow its top line at an astounding rate. But how much does that matter if the future looks bleak as backlogs aren’t growing and FSLR is now quickly working through them? Eventually it would hit a tipping point where revenue just collapses. It’s a classic value trap where the stock might look cheap at the moment, trading at just under 12x FWD earnings. But looking at analysts estimates, the P/E increases to 35x in 2034 . Why buy a company that could see its current net income nearly wiped out in less than 8 years? Sure, you can argue that a lot can happen until then and it might recover. But what assurance do investors have for this? Currently, very little. Its reliance on credits is a serious concern, and a declining backlog means I’ll still rate the stock a "Sell," just like I did last time. Last Quarter’s Earnings - Confirming The Backlog Concerns Again Since December there have been 2 rep...
The Indian rupee fell to a record low as crude prices rose following a flare-up in violence in the Middle East, leading analysts to consider whether the central bank may return to its 2013 playbook to support the currency. The rupee weakened as much as 0.4% to 95.4175 per dollar on Tuesday, breaching its April 30 low of 95.3337. Brent traded near $113 a barrel after surging 5.8% on Monday as trade...
The Indian rupee fell to a record low as crude prices rose following a flare-up in violence in the Middle East, leading analysts to consider whether the central bank may return to its 2013 playbook to support the currency. The rupee weakened as much as 0.4% to 95.4175 per dollar on Tuesday, breaching its April 30 low of 95.3337. Brent traded near $113 a barrel after surging 5.8% on Monday as traders tracked tensions in the Middle East after fresh clashes between the US and Iran. The currency has come back under pressure as the Reserve Bank of India’s recent crackdown on speculative bets delivered only brief relief. The Middle East conflict has kept energy prices elevated, while foreign investors have already pulled $21 billion from local equities this year — surpassing 2025’s full-year outflow. Those trends are straining the country’s external finances. “The underlying issue for INR remains the balance of payments,” UBS Group AG economists including Tanvee Gupta Jain wrote in a note. “Measures to increase capital flows need to be the key policy priority.” The Swiss bank lowered its fiscal 2027-end rupee forecast to 96 per dollar from 94. To address these pressures, the RBI has scope to deploy its 2013 policy toolkit — drawing on measures used when the taper tantrum hit — to support the rupee, according to the analysts. Those steps included raising dollars from expatriate Indians, curbing gold imports and opening a special forex swap window for oil-marketing firms, who account for $250 million to $300 million in daily demand. At the time, the authority supplied about $12 billion to refiners as the rupee slid past 60 per dollar — then a record low. What Bloomberg’s Strategists Say... “The rupee’s recent move to a record low highlights how elevated oil prices are increasingly overwhelming policy efforts to stabilize India’s external position. Deteriorating trade dynamics, persistent foreign outflows, and widening balance of payments pressures anchor the currency to a s...
Barry Sternlicht , Chairman and CEO at Starwood Capital Group , said his company has been investing in data centers for the past five years, expanding from the US to Europe and Asia. Starwood has established a significant presence in the data center sector, including the Northern Virginia market near Washington, D.C., he said in an interview with Bloomberg Television at the Milken Institute Global...
Barry Sternlicht , Chairman and CEO at Starwood Capital Group , said his company has been investing in data centers for the past five years, expanding from the US to Europe and Asia. Starwood has established a significant presence in the data center sector, including the Northern Virginia market near Washington, D.C., he said in an interview with Bloomberg Television at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills. The company expanded its business by acquiring a majority stake in Ireland’s largest data‑center operator and, in Asia, secured a controlling interest in ESR alongside Warburg. “They have a big data center business,” Sternlicht said of the ESR acquisition, which he described as “the largest privatization in Asia last year.” The deal gives Starwood exposure to markets including South Korea, Japan, India, and Australia, complementing Starwood’s existing focus on Europe and the US, he said. Sternlicht said data center economics are relatively consistent across global markets, saying the yields on development costs are “about the same” in Australia as in the US. “You can get power anywhere in the world. You have something you can talk to a hyperscaler about. So we’re just agnostic,” he said. On the broader investment landscape, Sternlicht said that Europe became attractive earlier than the US because “yields on property are higher than the cost of debt,” he said. He expressed concern about wealth disparity in the US, saying “half the country isn’t doing so great,” which could impact politics, real estate, and taxes. That’s led Starwood to “shy away from blue states lately” in favor of Sunbelt states where job growth is stronger. Sternlicht made his reputation buying distressed real estate in the aftermath of the savings and loan crisis of the 1980s and 1990s. He went on to found Starwood Hotels & Resorts , which was later acquired by Marriott International Inc. , and the real estate lender Starwood Property Trust. * This story was produced with the...
ProPetro ( PUMP ) priced a private offering of $600M aggregate principal amount of 0.00% convertible senior notes due 2031 to qualified institutional buyers. The offering, was initially announced at $500M. It includes an option for initial purchasers to buy up to $90 million more within 13 days of issuance, with closing expected on May 7, 2026. The notes are senior unsecured obligations that accru...
ProPetro ( PUMP ) priced a private offering of $600M aggregate principal amount of 0.00% convertible senior notes due 2031 to qualified institutional buyers. The offering, was initially announced at $500M. It includes an option for initial purchasers to buy up to $90 million more within 13 days of issuance, with closing expected on May 7, 2026. The notes are senior unsecured obligations that accrue no regular interest and mature on November 15, 2031. Conversion is possible under specific conditions until August 15, 2031, and then anytime until two trading days before maturity, at an initial rate of 43.1616 shares per $1,000 principal. Net proceeds are estimated at $581.3M, and will be used for capped call transactions to reduce dilution, with the rest for general purposes like power equipment investments. The stock price dropped 2.7% on Monday during after-hours of trading. More on ProPetro ProPetro Holding Corp. (PUMP) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript ProPetro Holding Corp. 2026 Q1 - Results - Earnings Call Presentation ProPetro: A Re-Rating Gone Too Far, Too Fast ProPetro outlines $540M-$610M 2026 capex as PROPWR targets 2.6 GW delivered by year-end 2031 ProPetro GAAP EPS of -$0.03 beats by $0.08, revenue of $271M misses by $5.55M