Analysis of Long-term (Investment) Activity Ratios
Quarterly Data
Activity ratios measure how efficiently a company performs day-to-day tasks, such us the collection of receivables and management of inventory.
Paying user area
Try for free
First Solar Inc. pages available for free this week:
- Income Statement
- Cash Flow Statement
- DuPont Analysis: Disaggregation of ROE, ROA, and Net Profit Margin
- Analysis of Reportable Segments
- Common Stock Valuation Ratios
- Enterprise Value to EBITDA (EV/EBITDA)
- Price to FCFE (P/FCFE)
- Total Asset Turnover since 2006
- Price to Earnings (P/E) since 2006
- Price to Sales (P/S) since 2006
The data is hidden behind: . Unhide it.
Get full access to the entire website from $10.42/mo, or
get 1-month access to First Solar Inc. for $22.49.
This is a one-time payment. There is no automatic renewal.
We accept:
Long-term Activity Ratios (Summary)
First Solar Inc., long-term (investment) activity ratios (quarterly data)
Based on: 10-Q (reporting date: 2024-09-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2024-06-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2024-03-31), 10-K (reporting date: 2023-12-31), 10-Q (reporting date: 2023-09-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2023-06-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2023-03-31), 10-K (reporting date: 2022-12-31), 10-Q (reporting date: 2022-09-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2022-06-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2022-03-31), 10-K (reporting date: 2021-12-31), 10-Q (reporting date: 2021-09-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2021-06-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2021-03-31), 10-K (reporting date: 2020-12-31), 10-Q (reporting date: 2020-09-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2020-06-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2020-03-31), 10-K (reporting date: 2019-12-31), 10-Q (reporting date: 2019-09-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2019-06-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2019-03-31).
- Net Fixed Asset Turnover
- The net fixed asset turnover ratio shows a declining trend from early 2020 through 2024. It started around 1.4 in March 2020 and declined steadily, reaching approximately 0.72 by September 2024. Notably, after a slight increase to 1.47 in December 2020, the ratio decreased consistently with minor fluctuations. This pattern indicates a gradual reduction in the efficiency of utilizing fixed assets to generate sales over the observed period.
- Total Asset Turnover
- Total asset turnover demonstrated variability with an initial rise from 0.41 in March 2020 to 0.5 in December 2020. Subsequently, the ratio declined to around 0.32-0.34 during 2022 and then stabilized around those levels through the first three quarters of 2024. This suggests an initial improvement in the efficient use of total assets, followed by a period of reduced efficiency and then relative stabilization at a lower turnover level.
- Equity Turnover
- Equity turnover shows a fluctuating but generally downward trend from 0.6 in March 2020 to values close to 0.51 by September 2024. The ratio peaked near 0.65 in the final quarter of 2020 before decreasing steadily and experiencing some minor increases from late 2022 onward. This reflects a decline in the efficiency with which shareholders' equity is used to generate revenue, particularly following 2020, with some signs of modest recovery or stabilization in the most recent periods.
Net Fixed Asset Turnover
First Solar Inc., net fixed asset turnover calculation (quarterly data)
| Sep 30, 2024 | Jun 30, 2024 | Mar 31, 2024 | Dec 31, 2023 | Sep 30, 2023 | Jun 30, 2023 | Mar 31, 2023 | Dec 31, 2022 | Sep 30, 2022 | Jun 30, 2022 | Mar 31, 2022 | Dec 31, 2021 | Sep 30, 2021 | Jun 30, 2021 | Mar 31, 2021 | Dec 31, 2020 | Sep 30, 2020 | Jun 30, 2020 | Mar 31, 2020 | Dec 31, 2019 | Sep 30, 2019 | Jun 30, 2019 | Mar 31, 2019 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Selected Financial Data (US$ in thousands) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net sales | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Property, plant and equipment, net | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Long-term Activity Ratio | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net fixed asset turnover1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Benchmarks | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net Fixed Asset Turnover, Competitors2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Advanced Micro Devices Inc. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Analog Devices Inc. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Applied Materials Inc. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Broadcom Inc. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Intel Corp. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| KLA Corp. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lam Research Corp. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Micron Technology Inc. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NVIDIA Corp. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Qualcomm Inc. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Texas Instruments Inc. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Based on: 10-Q (reporting date: 2024-09-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2024-06-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2024-03-31), 10-K (reporting date: 2023-12-31), 10-Q (reporting date: 2023-09-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2023-06-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2023-03-31), 10-K (reporting date: 2022-12-31), 10-Q (reporting date: 2022-09-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2022-06-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2022-03-31), 10-K (reporting date: 2021-12-31), 10-Q (reporting date: 2021-09-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2021-06-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2021-03-31), 10-K (reporting date: 2020-12-31), 10-Q (reporting date: 2020-09-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2020-06-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2020-03-31), 10-K (reporting date: 2019-12-31), 10-Q (reporting date: 2019-09-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2019-06-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2019-03-31).
1 Q3 2024 Calculation
Net fixed asset turnover
= (Net salesQ3 2024
+ Net salesQ2 2024
+ Net salesQ1 2024
+ Net salesQ4 2023)
÷ Property, plant and equipment, net
= ( + + + )
÷ =
2 Click competitor name to see calculations.
- Net Sales Trends
- Net sales demonstrated notable volatility over the observed periods. Initially, sales were above $500 million, with a significant spike in December 2019 reaching nearly $1.4 billion. Following this peak, sales fluctuated, with a decline in early 2020, followed by a recovery and further fluctuations through 2021 and 2022. The latter quarters of 2023 and early 2024 indicate a strong recovery, with several quarters exceeding $800 million, and the highest quarterly sales approaching $1.16 billion in December 2023. Overall, net sales exhibit a pattern of cyclic peaks and troughs, suggesting variability in demand or operational factors.
- Property, Plant, and Equipment, Net
- The net value of property, plant, and equipment displayed a consistent upward trend across the entire period. Starting from approximately $1.86 billion in March 2019, the asset base increased steadily each quarter, reaching over $5.3 billion by September 2024. This growth indicates ongoing capital investment and expansion of fixed assets, reflecting the company’s commitment to augmenting its operational capacity or modernizing its infrastructure.
- Net Fixed Asset Turnover Ratios
- The net fixed asset turnover ratio began at 1.4 in late 2019, indicating efficient utilization of fixed assets to generate sales. However, there was a gradual decline observed over the subsequent periods. By late 2020, the ratio had reduced to approximately 1.13, and by the end of 2021, it dropped further to around 1.05. This downward trend continued into 2024, with the ratio stabilizing near 0.72-0.75 in the most recent quarters. The decreasing ratio suggests that despite growing fixed assets, the sales generated per unit of fixed asset value have diminished, potentially signaling underutilization or slower sales growth relative to assets expansion.
- Overall Analysis
- The data indicates a company experiencing significant capital growth alongside fluctuating sales performance. The increase in net fixed assets implies strategic investments in capacity or technology, but the diminution in asset turnover suggests that these investments have not proportionally translated into higher sales efficiency as of the latest quarters. The volatility in net sales, with marked peaks and troughs, could also point to cyclical industry factors or market demand variability. Continuous monitoring of asset utilization ratios and efforts to align sales growth with asset expansion would be prudent to enhance operational efficiency.
Total Asset Turnover
First Solar Inc., total asset turnover calculation (quarterly data)
| Sep 30, 2024 | Jun 30, 2024 | Mar 31, 2024 | Dec 31, 2023 | Sep 30, 2023 | Jun 30, 2023 | Mar 31, 2023 | Dec 31, 2022 | Sep 30, 2022 | Jun 30, 2022 | Mar 31, 2022 | Dec 31, 2021 | Sep 30, 2021 | Jun 30, 2021 | Mar 31, 2021 | Dec 31, 2020 | Sep 30, 2020 | Jun 30, 2020 | Mar 31, 2020 | Dec 31, 2019 | Sep 30, 2019 | Jun 30, 2019 | Mar 31, 2019 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Selected Financial Data (US$ in thousands) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net sales | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total assets | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Long-term Activity Ratio | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total asset turnover1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Benchmarks | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total Asset Turnover, Competitors2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Advanced Micro Devices Inc. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Analog Devices Inc. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Applied Materials Inc. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Broadcom Inc. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Intel Corp. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| KLA Corp. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lam Research Corp. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Micron Technology Inc. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NVIDIA Corp. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Qualcomm Inc. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Texas Instruments Inc. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Based on: 10-Q (reporting date: 2024-09-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2024-06-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2024-03-31), 10-K (reporting date: 2023-12-31), 10-Q (reporting date: 2023-09-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2023-06-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2023-03-31), 10-K (reporting date: 2022-12-31), 10-Q (reporting date: 2022-09-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2022-06-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2022-03-31), 10-K (reporting date: 2021-12-31), 10-Q (reporting date: 2021-09-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2021-06-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2021-03-31), 10-K (reporting date: 2020-12-31), 10-Q (reporting date: 2020-09-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2020-06-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2020-03-31), 10-K (reporting date: 2019-12-31), 10-Q (reporting date: 2019-09-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2019-06-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2019-03-31).
1 Q3 2024 Calculation
Total asset turnover
= (Net salesQ3 2024
+ Net salesQ2 2024
+ Net salesQ1 2024
+ Net salesQ4 2023)
÷ Total assets
= ( + + + )
÷ =
2 Click competitor name to see calculations.
- Net Sales
-
Net sales exhibited notable volatility over the observed periods, with several fluctuations between quarters. Initially, sales hovered around the mid-$500,000s thousand range in early 2019, followed by a significant peak at the end of 2019, reaching approximately $1.4 million thousand. The subsequent year started with a recovery above $600,000 thousand but showed inconsistent quarterly patterns, with some quarters such as Q3 2020 and Q4 2022 showing strong increases nearing or exceeding $900,000 thousand and $1 million thousand respectively.
A distinct upward trend emerged from early 2023, with quarterly sales surpassing previous values in several instances, culminating in over $1.1 million thousand by Q4 2023. However, the sales figures slightly retracted in early 2024 quarters but remained elevated relative to earlier years, suggesting growth momentum along with certain cyclical fluctuations.
- Total Assets
-
Total assets demonstrated a gradual increase over the entire period, starting from approximately $7.3 billion thousand in early 2019 to over $11.4 billion thousand by the end of Q3 2024. While the asset base showed minor dips and stabilization phases in 2019 and throughout 2020, the overall trajectory remained upward, especially evident from late 2021 onward.
The growth in total assets appears steady and consistent, reflecting either asset acquisitions, capital investments, or appreciation contributing to an expanding resource base that likely supports the operating scale of the company.
- Total Asset Turnover Ratio
-
The total asset turnover ratio, available from Q3 2019 onward, displayed modest fluctuations but generally remained within a narrow range between approximately 0.32 and 0.50. The highest ratio was observed in Q4 2019 at 0.50, indicating relatively efficient use of assets to generate sales during that quarter.
Post-2019, the ratio showed a gradual decline, settling around 0.32 to 0.34 in subsequent quarters through 2024. This downward movement suggests that while assets were increasing, sales did not grow proportionally, resulting in slightly diminished efficiency in asset utilization over time.
- Overall Insights
-
The analysis reveals that while sales figures experienced variability and cyclicality, there is an upward trend over the multi-year horizon signaling growth in revenue generation capability. Concurrently, the asset base expanded significantly, which, combined with a slightly decreasing asset turnover ratio, indicates that asset growth outpaced revenue increases to some extent.
This dynamic suggests the company may be investing in capacity expansion or long-term assets that have yet to fully translate into sales growth, or possibly facing challenges in optimizing asset use efficiency. Continuous monitoring of the asset turnover ratio will be important to assess whether the increased asset base results in proportional sales growth moving forward.
Equity Turnover
First Solar Inc., equity turnover calculation (quarterly data)
| Sep 30, 2024 | Jun 30, 2024 | Mar 31, 2024 | Dec 31, 2023 | Sep 30, 2023 | Jun 30, 2023 | Mar 31, 2023 | Dec 31, 2022 | Sep 30, 2022 | Jun 30, 2022 | Mar 31, 2022 | Dec 31, 2021 | Sep 30, 2021 | Jun 30, 2021 | Mar 31, 2021 | Dec 31, 2020 | Sep 30, 2020 | Jun 30, 2020 | Mar 31, 2020 | Dec 31, 2019 | Sep 30, 2019 | Jun 30, 2019 | Mar 31, 2019 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Selected Financial Data (US$ in thousands) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net sales | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stockholders’ equity | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Long-term Activity Ratio | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Equity turnover1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Benchmarks | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Equity Turnover, Competitors2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Advanced Micro Devices Inc. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Analog Devices Inc. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Applied Materials Inc. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Broadcom Inc. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Intel Corp. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| KLA Corp. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lam Research Corp. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Micron Technology Inc. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NVIDIA Corp. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Qualcomm Inc. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Texas Instruments Inc. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Based on: 10-Q (reporting date: 2024-09-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2024-06-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2024-03-31), 10-K (reporting date: 2023-12-31), 10-Q (reporting date: 2023-09-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2023-06-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2023-03-31), 10-K (reporting date: 2022-12-31), 10-Q (reporting date: 2022-09-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2022-06-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2022-03-31), 10-K (reporting date: 2021-12-31), 10-Q (reporting date: 2021-09-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2021-06-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2021-03-31), 10-K (reporting date: 2020-12-31), 10-Q (reporting date: 2020-09-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2020-06-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2020-03-31), 10-K (reporting date: 2019-12-31), 10-Q (reporting date: 2019-09-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2019-06-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2019-03-31).
1 Q3 2024 Calculation
Equity turnover
= (Net salesQ3 2024
+ Net salesQ2 2024
+ Net salesQ1 2024
+ Net salesQ4 2023)
÷ Stockholders’ equity
= ( + + + )
÷ =
2 Click competitor name to see calculations.
The financial data indicates fluctuating net sales figures across the quarters observed. Initially, net sales showed variability with values ranging between approximately $531,978 thousand and $1,399,377 thousand in 2019. A notable increase occurred in the third quarter of 2020, reaching $927,565 thousand, followed by alternating periods of increase and decrease through 2021 and 2022. In 2023 and the first half of 2024, net sales generally trended upward, peaking at $1,158,553 thousand in the fourth quarter of 2023, before slightly declining in the middle of 2024.
Stockholders’ equity demonstrated gradual growth over the entire period, starting from approximately $5,129,161 thousand in the first quarter of 2019 and progressively increasing to about $7,593,648 thousand by the third quarter of 2024. This steady rise suggests consistent accumulation of equity value, reflecting either retained earnings growth or capital inflows.
The equity turnover ratio, available from late 2019 onward, presents a downward trend in the early 2020 period, decreasing from 0.6 to around 0.42 by mid-2022. Following this low point, the ratio gradually recovered to approximately 0.52 in mid-2024. This pattern indicates a phase of reduced efficiency in utilizing equity to generate sales during early pandemic periods, with subsequent improvements as market conditions normalized.
- Net Sales Trends
- Volatile performance was seen with peaks notably in late 2019 and late 2023, suggesting cyclical variations or demand fluctuations. The upward momentum in recent quarters points toward recovery or growth in revenue generation capability.
- Stockholders’ Equity Trends
- Consistent increase highlights strengthening financial position, potentially signaling effective capital management and profitability retention throughout the timeline.
- Equity Turnover Ratio Analysis
- Initial decline in efficiency of equity use coincides with market disruptions in 2020, while later stabilization and incremental increase indicate improved asset utilization relative to equity by 2024.