Is FSLR a high-quality business?

AlphaMadera's AlphaQuality grade scores First Solar, Inc. on six pillars — profitability, capital efficiency, balance-sheet strength, growth durability, cash generation, and shareholder yield. The composite letter grade reflects how FSLR compares to a Buffett-style quality bar.

What is First Solar, Inc.'s AlphaQuality grade?

AlphaQuality assigns a letter grade (A through F) to FSLR based on a six-pillar quantitative model. The live page shows the composite grade plus each pillar's individual score with the underlying metrics.

What makes FSLR a quality stock?

AlphaQuality looks at return on capital, free-cash-flow margins, debt-to-equity, revenue stability, dividend and buyback policy, and operating-margin trend. Stocks scoring well across all six pillars earn higher grades — the methodology favors compounders over cyclicals.

FSLR - First Solar, Inc.

Price: -- -- | CONSENSUS: Buy DETAILS | PRICE TARGET: $251.82 DETAILS

AlphaQuality

Quantitative six-pillar business-quality grade

Other Commodity Producers

AlphaQuality — archetype-weighted quantitative grade

C 56.9 / 100 composite

Composite Grade

Composite of six pillars weighted for other commodity producers businesses. Purely quantitative — no stock price or analyst input.

Profitability

Weight: 15%

B- 68.3

5yr Avg ROIC 8.9% 55/100
Operating Margin Trend +5.86 pp/yr 100/100

Capital Efficiency

Weight: 10%

C 56.0

5yr Avg ROE 8.5% 53/100
5yr Share-Count CAGR 0.1% 62/100

Growth Quality

Weight: 5%

A 92.3

5yr Revenue CAGR 15.6% 92/100
5yr EPS CAGR 34.2% 100/100
Revenue-Growth Years (5) 4/5 80/100

Cash Generation

Weight: 25%

F 2.9

5yr FCF Margin -3.9% 5/100
5yr FCF/NI Conversion -0.26x 0/100

Balance Sheet

Weight: 25%

A+ 100.0

Net Debt / EBITDA -1.07x 100/100
Interest Coverage (EBIT/Int) 38.15x 100/100
Altman Z-Score 5.95 100/100

Stability

Weight: 20%

C 54.2

EPS Volatility (σ/μ) 0.67 17/100
Piotroski F-Score 8 89/100
Negative-Revenue Years (5) 1/5 80/100

4 of 4 gurus held; 1 added; 3 trimmed; 2 full exits.

Holders: 4
Avg Δ position: +13.8%
New buys: 0
Full exits: 2

Soros sold -100%
Halvorsen sold -100%
Greenblatt increased +166%

How this is calculated

AlphaQuality grades six pillars from 0-100 and weights each by archetype:

Profitability (15%) — 5yr Avg ROIC, Operating Margin Trend
Capital Efficiency (10%) — 5yr Avg ROE, 5yr Share-Count CAGR
Growth Quality (5%) — 5yr Revenue CAGR, 5yr EPS CAGR, Revenue-Growth Years (5)
Cash Generation (25%) — 5yr FCF Margin, 5yr FCF/NI Conversion
Balance Sheet (25%) — Net Debt / EBITDA, Interest Coverage (EBIT/Int), Altman Z-Score
Stability (20%) — EPS Volatility (σ/μ), Piotroski F-Score, Negative-Revenue Years (5)

We deliberately ignore stock price, analyst targets, and consensus ratings so the grade is suitable for backtesting forward returns. A minimum of 5 fiscal years of audited statements is required; distressed and highly leveraged infrastructure businesses are declared ungradable rather than forced into a numeric score.