---
title: "First Solar sues JA Solar and Corning's US plant as $97 a share to the street's target rides on one patent"
description: "First Solar's October 1 suit against JA Solar and Corning's American Panel Solutions drags a US-owned factory into its TOPCon patent campaign. At $177.82 against a $274.47 consensus target, the stock's 53% spread rests on a patent already struck down in China and under reexamination in Washington."
publisher: "The Inference"
section: "Energy"
published: 2026-10-09T23:40:31.027Z
modified: 2026-10-09T23:40:31.027Z
canonical: https://theinference.org/article/first-solar-sues-ja-solar-and-corning-s-us-plant-as-97-a-share-to-the-street-s-target-rides-on-one-patent
language: en
keywords: "First Solar, Solar, Patents, Litigation, Tariffs"
---

# First Solar sues JA Solar and Corning's US plant as $97 a share to the street's target rides on one patent

> First Solar's October 1 suit against JA Solar and Corning's American Panel Solutions drags a US-owned factory into its TOPCon patent campaign. At $177.82 against a $274.47 consensus target, the stock's 53% spread rests on a patent already struck down in China and under reexamination in Washington.

## A Phoenix plant becomes a defendant

The 2 GW module factory in Phoenix that JA Solar built for $60 million, and that [Corning](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/corning) bought last year as Washington tightened foreign-content tax rules, is now a patent defendant [1]. On October 1, [First Solar](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/first-solar) sued four JA Solar entities and American Panel Solutions (AMPS), the Corning subsidiary that runs the plant, [in Delaware federal court, alleging infringement of US Patent 9,130,074](https://finance.yahoo.com/energy/articles/first-solar-files-patent-infringement-204400794.html), which covers methods for making TOPCon cells [2][3]. AMPS had not been among the respondents in the trade investigation First Solar later abandoned [4].

## The moat is a licensing asset, not a product line

First Solar makes cadmium telluride thin-film modules and sells no TOPCon panels of its own; the patents it took from TetraSun in 2013, valid through 2030 and beyond, are leverage over everyone who does [2][5]. The prize is a market that [installed 11.4 GWdc in Q2 2026, up 45% year on year](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/us-solar-installations-jump-45-to-record-q2-surge/vi-AA2c55We), with utility-scale at 9.6 GW, up 61% [6][7]. Chief executive Mark Widmar points to "somewhat insatiable demand from hyperscalers", and the contracted backlog runs 45.1 GW through 2030 [8].

## Dead in Beijing, alive in Washington

[China's patent office struck down all claims of the '074 patent in May](https://www.saurenergy.com/solar-energy-news/first-solar-takes-its-topcon-patent-fight-to-a-chinese-plant-on-american-soil-12624145), on a challenge from JinkoSolar, and the patent sits in reexamination at the USPTO [6]. The counterweights: the USPTO's director refused three inter partes review petitions, from JinkoSolar, Canadian Solar and Mundra Solar, in late 2025 [4][6]. On September 16, First Solar [withdrew its ITC complaint, citing the Section 232 polysilicon tariffs](https://247wallst.com/investing/2026/09/16/first-solar-retreats-5-after-dropping-itc-patent-case-it-calls-procedural-enphase-energy-slips-sunrun-holds-steady/); its stayed district court cases against JinkoSolar, Canadian Solar, T1 Energy and Trina Solar now move [3][4]. The stock fell 5% that day while solar peers held flat [5].

## Wall Street still pays for the moat

[Goldman Sachs](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/goldman-sachs) [cut its target to $272 from $310 on October 8](https://www.marketscreener.com/news/goldman-sachs-adjusts-price-target-on-first-solar-to-272-from-310-ce785dded08cff21) and kept its Buy rating [8][9]. Consensus across 36 analysts sits at $274.47 against a October 9 close of $177.82, a 53% spread [9]. The shares are 43% below their June 3 high of $318.25, though Q2 earnings rose 23% to $3.92 a share and estimates for 2026 and 2027 have barely moved in 90 days; the damage is the multiple, 8.5x forward earnings against the 12.9x that $272 requires [8].

*Chart: **Every broker target sits $40 to $112 above First Solar's close** Bar chart comparing First Solar's broker price targets with its October 9, 2026, closing price*

*Broker price targets issued September 22 to October 8, 2026, versus the October 9 close, in US dollars. Targets are analyst estimates; the close is the reported print. Source: MarketScreener analyst action log. [9]*

## Royalty or nothing

First Solar's one named licensee is Talon PV, and the company says more suits are coming [4][6]. A patent that holds turns every TOPCon module entering the US into a toll; a patent that falls turns the campaign into a legal bill. The record shows licensing and litigation running together, and no filing yet says which defendants get offered a royalty rather than a courtroom.

## What decides it

JA Solar and Corning have not formally answered [10]. Watch whether Delaware waits out the reexamination, and how the third quarter lands against a $625 million to $775 million adjusted EBITDA guide [6][8]. The $97 gap between First Solar and its consensus target is, at bottom, a bet on one patent, and that patent is already dead in China.

## Takeaway

First Solar's October 1 Delaware suit makes Corning's Phoenix plant a patent defendant, and the $97 gap between the $177.82 close and the $274.47 consensus target now rests on one TOPCon patent, already struck down in China and under reexamination in Washington.

## Sources

1. [Electrek, "Corning snaps up JA Solar's US factory as Chinese parts face tax credit ban", 21 July 2025](https://electrek.co/2025/07/21/corning-ja-solar-us-factory-chinese-parts-tax-credit-ban/)
2. [Business Wire via Yahoo Finance, "First Solar Files Patent Infringement Lawsuit Against JA Solar & American Panel Solutions", 1 October 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/energy/articles/first-solar-files-patent-infringement-204400794.html)
3. [PV Tech, "First Solar files TOPCon patent infringement lawsuit against JA and Corning subsidiary", 2 October 2026](https://www.pv-tech.org/first-solar-files-topcon-patent-infringement-lawsuit-against-ja-and-corning-subsidiary/)
4. [Securities.io, "First Solar Sues JA Solar and American Panel Solutions Over TOPCon Patent", 1 October 2026](https://www.securities.io/first-solar-sues-ja-solar-and-american-panel-solutions-over-topcon-patent/)
5. [24/7 Wall St, "First Solar Retreats 5% After Dropping ITC Patent Case It Calls Procedural", 16 September 2026](https://247wallst.com/investing/2026/09/16/first-solar-retreats-5-after-dropping-itc-patent-case-it-calls-procedural-enphase-energy-slips-sunrun-holds-steady/)
6. [Saur Energy, "First Solar Takes Its TOPCon Patent Fight to a Chinese Plant on American Soil", 4 October 2026](https://www.saurenergy.com/solar-energy-news/first-solar-takes-its-topcon-patent-fight-to-a-chinese-plant-on-american-soil-12624145)
7. [MSN/Washington Post video, "US solar installations jump 45% to record Q2 surge", 12 September 2026](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/us-solar-installations-jump-45-to-record-q2-surge/vi-AA2c55We)
8. [Yahoo Finance/TIKR, "First Solar Has Lost 43% From Its June High: Goldman Sachs Sees 51% Upside", 8 October 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/first-solar-lost-43-june-151725388.html)
9. [MarketScreener/MT Newswires, "Goldman Sachs Adjusts Price Target on First Solar to $272 From $310", 8 October 2026](https://www.marketscreener.com/news/goldman-sachs-adjusts-price-target-on-first-solar-to-272-from-310-ce785dded08cff21)
10. [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/)


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First Solar sues JA Solar and Corning's US plant as $97 a share to the street's target rides on one patent — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/first-solar-sues-ja-solar-and-corning-s-us-plant-as-97-a-share-to-the-street-s-target-rides-on-one-patent