First Solar's CEO put $150 million into India, toward $1 billion, as capex fell for eight straight quarters
Investors bid up First Solar on a friendlier Washington the same week its chief executive put another $150 million into India and said policy certainty is "absolutely critical". The capital is speaking louder than the stock.
Vincent Jiang · 2 min read
Mark Widmar stood in front of an Indian renewable-energy summit on Wednesday and asked governments to keep their promises. "Policy certainty and clarity, I think, is absolutely critical," the First Solar+3.42% — First Solar, up 3.42 percent today chief executive told the Bharat Renewable Energy Summit in New Delhi, announcing another $150 million for the company's India operations on top of $700 million already invested, bringing cumulative spending toward $1 billion over the next couple of years 1.
The same week, Wall Street priced a different country. Democrats won both chambers of Congress on Nov 4 and First Solar closed up 4.63% at $194.51 after trading up 9.21% intraday, with Mizuho lifting its price target to $328 from $324 and William Blair upgrading the stock to buy the next day 23. The rally rested on one idea: a friendlier Washington for the leading US-based thin-film module maker, whose cadmium-telluride panels sit outside the silicon supply chain facing Section 232 minimum import prices effective Dec 4 3.
Management's money points to Delhi, not just Washington
The complication sits in the order of events. While the tape repriced US policy, the chief executive put fresh capital into Indian plants and named government commitment, in Delhi as much as anywhere, as the variable that moves investment.
Country managing director Sujoy Ghosh said the $150 million is already underway and upgrades the India lines to make advanced thin-film modules with a temperature coefficient of minus 0.22% per degree Celsius, against about minus 0.35% for mono-PERC and minus 0.3% to minus 0.4% for TOPCon, a real advantage in hot solar states like Rajasthan 1.
First Solar's capital spending has fallen for eight straight quarters
Capex fell year over year in all eight quarters while India got fresh money
Data
| Capex (USD billions) | |
|---|---|
| Q4 '24 | 0.31 |
| Q1 '25 | 0.21 |
| Q2 '25 | 0.29 |
| Q3 '25 | 0.2 |
| Q4 '25 | 0.17 |
| Q1 '26 | 0.12 |
| Q2 '26 | 0.16 |
| Q3 '26 | 0.16 |
The spending discipline shows in the filings too: capital expenditure has fallen year over year for eight straight quarters, from $314 million in Q4 2024 to $155 million in Q3 2026 4. Fresh India money is competing for a shrinking budget.
The veto caps what Washington can actually do
The counterpoint is real: a Democratic Congress stops further damage but cannot restore the credits the 2025 tax law cut, and the president holds a veto through January 2029, so gridlock rather than boom is the base case 3. The stock still sits more than a third below its June high of $320.95, at 10.8 times trailing earnings 3. The first hard test lands Dec 4, when the import floor takes effect; watch whether the India upgrade shows up as a US hedge or a second engine 3.
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