First Solar Stock Rockets Nearly 50% After Announcements

First Solar’s share price shot up nearly 50% in one day after 3 positive announcements from the big U.S. thin film solar manufacturer and project developer. The company has reported strong projected sales revenues, acquisition news, as well as significant progress with solar module efficiency.

For its 2013 financial guidance, the company has reported projected sales of US$3.8 billion to US$4.0 billion. First Solar is expecting to deliver solar modules in the orfer of 1.6 gigawafts to 1.8 G gigawatts. In addition, the company has also predicted a strong performance for 2014 to 2015, forecasting up to $4 billion in sales for 2014, and $4.8 billion for 2015.

The second announcement was that First Solar is acquiring photovoltaic technology startup TetraSun from JX Nippon Oil and Energy, indicating a move into the booming solar market in Japan. The technology from TetraSun is a photovoltaic cell that has achieved an efficiency above 21%, according to a statement announcing the acquisition.

First Solar CEO Jim Hughes said, “Japan is an important market with unique energy challenges, and we believe this new technology is well-suited to help them meet their energy needs.” First Solar and JX Nippon are also in discussions on a agreement to distribute the solar technology in Japan.

A third announcement from First Solar said that the company has hit 16.1% solar module efficiency for its CdTe technology, which has been confirmed by NRIEL. The is quite a jump from the previous record of 14.4%.

These announcements from Frist Solar helped boost other solar industry stocks, which have been lagging during the past few years. Could this mean that the low point in the solar industry has been paseed, and it’s now on the up and up? Time will tell on that one, but the solar industry certainly has huge potential worldwide. Currently, solar power accounts for only 0.5% of global electricity demand, so there’s certainly a LOT of potential for fast growth from here.

Image CC licensed by Jumanji Solar An installation of First Solar modules.