First Solar edges higher after beating sales expectations, falling short on earnings

Solar panel seller First Solar rose slightly in after-hours trading after posting a mixed earnings report.

First Solar reported earnings per share of $3.65, under the $4.63 analysts polled by FactSet were expecting. Net income for the quarter was $393 million, under the $509 million the Street had forecast.

But even with the profit miss, its $1.5 billion of sales topped the $1.4 billion analysts were calling for. The top line was driven by an uptick in sales of solar panels to third parties. The company has increasingly pivoted to those kinds of sales versus complete solar power systems.

More Markets

See all Markets

Luke Kawa3m

AppLovin modestly exceeds sales and earnings expectations in Q3

AppLovin after the adtech company reported top and bottom line results that modestly exceeded expectations, along with guidance for the current quarter that strikes a similar chord.

The Q3 results:

Revenue: $1.41 billion (estimate: $1.34 billion, guidance of $1.33 billion)
Adjusted EBITDA: $1.16 billion (estimate: $1.09 billion, guidance of $1.08 billion)

Q4 guidance:

Revenue: $1.585 billion (estimate: $1.54 billion)
Adjusted EBITDA: $1.315 billion (estimate: $1.27 billion)

Shares are up about 3% in postmarket trading as of 4:15 p.m. ET.

After its Q2 report, CEO Adam Foroughi said that the real “fun” starts this quarter, as the company began to open its self-service ad portal on a referral basis on October 1. Bank of America analyst Omar Dessouky is especially bullish on this channel, expecting the company to book 4,000 large advertisers after the portal becomes fully available for onboards in the first half of 2026.

However, Q4 has not been fun for the adtech company thus far. Shares are down about 15% since the end of September, with the bulk of the decline catalyzed by a report that the SEC is investigating its data collection practices, which was followed by another report indicating that multiple state regulators are also looking into the same matter.

“Legal risk lingers: AppLovin has denied short-seller claims about its Array product, which was later shut down amid possible probes by the SEC and some US state regulators,” wrote Bloomberg Intelligence technology analyst Nathan Naidu ahead of this report. “A related class-action suit filed in March could cost up to $750 million if it proceeds to trial. “

Matt Phillips

Robinhood beats on earnings and revenue, but stock slips after hours

The new addition to the S&P 500 is its top-performing member in 2025.

J. Edward Moreno6m

DoorDash dives after earnings miss

DoorDash fell after it reported earnings results that missed Wall Street estimates.

The company reported earnings per share of $0.55, less than the $0.68 analysts polled by FactSet were expecting. It also reported a gross order value — a key metric that measures the total amount spent on the platform — of $25 billion, more than the $24.5 billion the Street was expecting.

DoorDash's report comes as some of the companies that sell meals delivered through its platform have reported gloomy quarters. Bowl-based restaurants like Chipotle and Cava have been hit particularly hard, which they attribute to cash-strapped younger consumers.

Luke Kawa9m

IonQ posts huge sales beat in Q3

IonQ posted a monster top-line beat in the third quarter, along with a smaller loss than analysts had feared.

The results:

Revenue: $39.9 million (estimate: $27 million, guidance for $27 million)
Adjusted earnings per share: -$0.17 (estimate: -$0.31)

Management boosted its full-year revenue outlook to a range of $106 million to $110 million (previously $82 million to $100 million).

Shares initially jumped following the release, but quickly pared all of that advance to trade flat.

The prospect of government support has been a major catalyst for the quantum space in recent months, including the US government deeming the technology an R&D priority, which was followed by a report that the Trump administration was in talks to accumulate equity stakes in IonQ and its peers. That report, however, was quickly contradicted by separate reports.

Over the course of Q3, IonQ signed an agreement with the Department of Energy to advance the development and deployment of quantum technology in space, and also announced plans to acquire quantum sensor company Vector Atomic. It carried some of this momentum through early in Q4, claiming a “quantum computing world record” for the accuracy of its two-qubit gate model.

Shares of the trapped ion pure-play quantum computing company peaked at nearly $85 in mid-October, but slumped into the mid-$50s ahead of this report as part of a broad pullback across many speculative pockets of the market.

Luke Kawa11m

Qualcomm beats on Q4 sales and earnings; Q1 revenue guidance well ahead of estimates

Qualcomm reported a beat on the top and bottom lines in its fiscal fourth quarter, along with a bright outlook for the start of its next fiscal year

Here are the Q4 results:

Revenues: $11.27 billion (estimate: 10.77 billion, guidance for about $10.7 billion)
Adjusted earnings per share: $3 (estimate: $2.88, guidance for about $2.85)

Its guidance for the current quarter (fiscal Q1 2026) was stellar:

Revenues: $12.2 billion (estimate: $11.59 billion)
Adjusted earnings per share: $3.40 (estimate: $3.26)

Shares soared today ahead of the release, outperforming peers in a broad-based rebound for semiconductor stocks. Qualcomm has declined in the session following each of its past five earnings reports. So far, the knee jerk reaction is more of the same: despite the surface-level strong results, the stock is off 3% in after-hours trading.

Qualcomm is readying itself for a bigger push in the AI market, having recently announced new chips for data centers expected to be available in 2026 and 2027, with Saudi Arabia’s HUMAIN as the first big buyer.

The chips that go in smartphones are still Qualcomm’s biggest business, but gauging potential demand for these upcoming chips will also be in focus during the company’s earnings call with analysts.

Latest Stories

Sherwood Media, LLC produces fresh and unique perspectives on topical financial news and is a fully owned subsidiary of Robinhood Markets, Inc., and any views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of any other Robinhood affiliate, including Robinhood Markets, Inc., Robinhood Financial LLC, Robinhood Securities, LLC, Robinhood Crypto, LLC, or Robinhood Money, LLC.