---
title: "Citadel's First Solar stake rose to 6%, but its hedge funds report just 0.0% of the shares"
description: "An amendment filed hours after Citadel's original October 15 disclosure lifts Kenneth Griffin's deemed First Solar stake to 6.0%. The filing gives the broker-dealer Citadel Securities LLC 4.9% of the company and gives the hedge fund adviser Citadel Advisors LLC 36,918 shares, a line it rounds to 0.0%."
publisher: "The Inference"
section: "Markets"
published: 2026-10-16T21:12:32.430Z
modified: 2026-10-16T21:12:32.430Z
canonical: https://theinference.org/article/citadel-s-first-solar-stake-rose-to-6-but-its-hedge-funds-report-just-0-0-of-the-shares
language: en
keywords: "Citadel, Kenneth Griffin, First Solar, Hedge Funds, SEC Filings"
---

# Citadel's First Solar stake rose to 6%, but its hedge funds report just 0.0% of the shares

> An amendment filed hours after Citadel's original October 15 disclosure lifts Kenneth Griffin's deemed First Solar stake to 6.0%. The filing gives the broker-dealer Citadel Securities LLC 4.9% of the company and gives the hedge fund adviser Citadel Advisors LLC 36,918 shares, a line it rounds to 0.0%.

## The tweet said 5%; the filing said 6%, and almost none of it is the fund

On October 15 a post on X read "[Breaking: Citadel discloses 5% stake in First Solar](https://x.com/LeopoldTracker_/status/2110728727642403037)," on a stock Barron's says is down 32% this year and [just earned an upgrade to Buy](https://www.barrons.com/articles/first-solar-stock-buy-upgrade-7cdfb320). [1][2] The document behind the post puts almost none of that stake with [Citadel](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/citadel)'s hedge funds: the fund adviser reports 36,918 shares, a line the filing rounds to 0.0% of the class. [3][4] [The Schedule 13G/A](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1274494/000110465926116279/0001104659-26-116279-index.htm), the passive ownership form the SEC requires above 5%, reached EDGAR at 4:56 p.m. EDT, Citadel's second [First Solar](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/first-solar) filing of that day. [3][4]

## The 6% line, and where the shares actually sit

Kenneth Griffin, who controls both Citadel Advisors, the adviser to his hedge funds, and Citadel Securities, the market maker, may be deemed to own 6,459,463 First Solar shares, 6.0% of the 107,469,788 outstanding as of July 24, about $1.16 billion at the October 15 price of $179.05. [4][5]

The entity lines show who holds them. Citadel Securities LLC, the broker-dealer, reports 5,261,645 shares, 4.9%; its parent, Citadel Securities Group LP, reports 6,422,545; Citadel Advisors LLC, the hedge fund adviser, reports 36,918, rounded to 0.0%. [4] The lines overlap rather than add, and Griffin's total contains the others. The shares sit of record with the market maker, with its desk that trades for the firm's own account, and with a vehicle the adviser manages. [4]

## Directional bet or hedged inventory? The form does not say

Nothing in either filing says whether the broker-dealer's 5,261,645 shares are directional risk or hedged market-making and client-flow inventory; a 13G does not ask. The reading that this is not conviction buying follows from that gap, not from a line in either document.

## The stake grew, but the hedge fund line did not

[The original 13G, accepted at 7:43 a.m. EDT](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1274494/000110465926115968/0001104659-26-115968.txt) the same day and keyed to a September 30 event, showed Griffin at 5,409,576 shares, 5.0%, and the adviser at 33,622. [6] The amendment, keyed to October 8, lifted the deemed position by about 1,049,887 shares in two weeks. [4][6] The broker-dealer took 828,239 of that build. [4][6] The hedge fund line added 3,296 shares, three-tenths of one percent of the increase. [4][6]

*Chart: **A million shares arrived in two weeks; the hedge fund adviser got 3,296 of them** Column chart comparing deemed First Solar holdings across four Citadel filing lines between the September 30 original 13G and the October 15 amendment*

*Deemed First Solar holdings by filing line, millions of shares: positions keyed to the September 30 event in the original 13G versus as of the October 15 open in the amendment. The lines overlap rather than add; Griffin's total contains the others. [4][6]*

## The catalysts are real, and none of them is this filing

[Truist](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/truist-financial) Securities analyst Christopher Souther [upgraded the stock to Buy on October 12 with a $270 target](https://247wallst.com/investing/2026/10/13/first-solar-climbs-4-as-truist-buy-call-and-december-tariff-floor-reset-panel-pricing-outlook-enphase-energy-and-sunrun-hold-flat/), citing a stronger pricing backdrop and a 44-cent-a-watt import floor arriving in December, and [Morgan Stanley](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/morgan-stanley) [lifted its target to $326 from $323](https://www.ad-hoc-news.de/boerse/news/nebenwerte/morgan-stanley-lifts-target-for-first-solar-stock-to-usd-326-00/70331658) on October 14. [7][5] Second-quarter net income rose to $423 million from $342 million on a 45.1 gigawatt backlog, with full-year guidance of $4.9 billion to $5.2 billion intact. [5]

First Solar, the largest U.S. solar manufacturer, also sued JA Solar, a Chinese panel maker, and Corning subsidiary American Panel Solutions [over solar cell patents](https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2026/10/05/first-solar-sues-ja-solar-and-american-panel-solutions-over-topcon-patents/) on October 1. [3][8] [Third-quarter results land on October 29, after the close](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261015638937/en). [9] The tell inside Citadel's paperwork is the adviser's line, 0.0% in both versions: the stake being retweeted is market-making inventory, not a hedge-fund bet, so far.

## Takeaway

Kenneth Griffin's deemed First Solar stake rose from 5.0% to 6.0% in two weeks, but 4.9 points of it sit with the broker-dealer Citadel Securities; the hedge fund adviser reports 36,918 shares, 0.0% of the class, and added just 3,296 of the new shares.

## Sources

1. [LeopoldTracker_ on X, "Breaking: Citadel discloses 5% stake in First Solar," 15 October 2026](https://x.com/LeopoldTracker_/status/2110728727642403037)
2. [Barron's, "First Solar Stock Is Down 32% This Year. Why That Got It an Upgrade to Buy," October 2026](https://www.barrons.com/articles/first-solar-stock-buy-upgrade-7cdfb320)
3. [StockTitan, "First Solar: Griffin deemed to own 6% passive stake" (with FSLR news feed dating the JA Solar suit), 15 October 2026](https://www.stocktitan.net/sec-filings/FSLR/schedule-13g-a-first-solar-inc-amended-passive-investment-disclosure-2875a4e0f799.html)
4. [SEC EDGAR, Schedule 13G/A, Citadel Securities GP LLC et al. and Kenneth Griffin re First Solar, filed 15 October 2026](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1274494/000110465926116279/0001104659-26-116279-index.htm)
5. [ad-hoc-news (Markets Insider data), "Morgan Stanley lifts target for First Solar stock to USD 326.00," 16 October 2026](https://www.ad-hoc-news.de/boerse/news/nebenwerte/morgan-stanley-lifts-target-for-first-solar-stock-to-usd-326-00/70331658)
6. [SEC EDGAR, Schedule 13G (original), Citadel Securities GP LLC et al. re First Solar, accepted 15 October 2026, 7:43 a.m. EDT](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1274494/000110465926115968/0001104659-26-115968.txt)
7. [24/7 Wall St., "First Solar Climbs 4% as Truist Buy Call and December Tariff Floor Reset Panel Pricing Outlook," 13 October 2026](https://247wallst.com/investing/2026/10/13/first-solar-climbs-4-as-truist-buy-call-and-december-tariff-floor-reset-panel-pricing-outlook-enphase-energy-and-sunrun-hold-flat/)
8. [pv magazine USA, "First Solar sues JA Solar and American Panel Solutions over TOPCon patents," 5 October 2026](https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2026/10/05/first-solar-sues-ja-solar-and-american-panel-solutions-over-topcon-patents/)
9. [Business Wire, "First Solar, Inc. to Announce Third Quarter 2026 Financial Results on October 29, 2026," 15 October 2026](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261015638937/en)


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Citadel's First Solar stake rose to 6%, but its hedge funds report just 0.0% of the shares — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/citadel-s-first-solar-stake-rose-to-6-but-its-hedge-funds-report-just-0-0-of-the-shares