First Solar, Inc., a solar technology company, provides photovoltaic (PV) solar energy solutions in the United States, France, India, Chile, and internationally. The company manufactures and sells PV solar modules with thin film semiconductor technology that provides conventional crystalline silicon PV solar modules. It also designs, manufactures, and sells cadmium telluride solar modules that convert sunlight into electricity. The company …
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Competitive advantage assessment
Key strengths
Strong Interest Coverage & Conservative LeverageDebt serviceability is strong (score 0.95), with robust interest coverage.
Consistent Cash GenerationCash generation is strong and consistent (score 1.00).
The dashed ring is the peer median. Defense scores are percentile ranks
against peers, so 50 is roughly the typical company in this group.
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Pricing power is the ability to raise prices without losing volume.
Cost Advantage
Score 100
· 15% of the moat score
A cost advantage means delivering the same product for structurally less — better purchasing, denser distribution, a more automated process.
Customer Stickiness
Score 98
· 15% of the moat score
Stickiness is what makes revenue repeat without being re-won every year.
Capital Efficiency
Score 79
· 18% of the moat score
Capital efficiency asks what the company earns on the money tied up in the business.
Resilience
Score 98
· 17% of the moat score
Resilience is the capacity to get through a bad year on its own terms — enough liquidity, enough interest cover, and enough cash generation to avoid a rescue financing or a forced sale.
Scale & Market Position
Score 88
· 15% of the moat score
Scale matters only when it converts into economics.
First Solar, Inc. (FSLR) scores 89 out of 100 on the StatsAlpha Moat Map, which rates its competitive advantage as strong. It ranks #1 of 28 scored companies in Solar, the top 4%. The score is a weighted composite of 6 competitive defenses, each measured against industry peers of 27 companies in Solar. Its strongest defense is Cost Advantage (100/100) and its weakest is Capital Efficiency (79/100).
How does First Solar, Inc. compare with other Solar companies?
First Solar, Inc. ranks #1 of 28 scored companies in Solar by moat score. That is the widest moat in Solar. The companies ranked closest are Nextracker Inc. (NXT) at 85 just below it.
How is the moat score calculated?
Each company is scored with an industry-specific template — Corporate Default in this case, chosen because the defenses that matter to a bank are not the ones that matter to a software company. Every defense combines several financial signals, and each signal is measured as a percentile against a peer group of 27 companies in Solar. The defenses are then weighted to produce the overall score out of 100.
Why is First Solar, Inc. scored with the Corporate Default template?
Most public companies sell a product or a service at a margin, so the moat question is whether that margin survives contact with competitors. The Corporate template scores the six defenses that show up in a general operating company's financial signature: whether it can hold price, produce more cheaply than rivals, keep its customers, earn a return above its cost of capital, withstand a downturn, and turn size into economics.
Which competitive defenses are measured for First Solar, Inc.?
The Corporate Default template measures 6 defenses, and FSLR scores: Pricing Power (80), Cost Advantage (100), Customer Stickiness (98), Capital Efficiency (79), Resilience (98), Scale & Market Position (88). Each is scored independently as a percentile against peers, so a company can be strong on one and weak on another — the overall score reflects how those defenses are weighted for this industry.
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