First Solar stock soars after announcing Evolar acquisition - Yahoo Finance

First Solar stock soars after announcing Evolar acquisition

The Yahoo Finance Live team discusses the rise in First Solar shares after the announcement of its acquisition of Evolar.

Video Transcript

AKIKO FUJITA: Now, my pick for the day is First Solar. The clean energy company announced a $38 million acquisition of Swedish firm Evolar AB. First Solar saying the move allows the company to accelerate development of photovoltaics with Evolar, a leader in thin film, which is used in solar panels. The stock surged on the news. We are seeing it up in a big way, more than 25%, its largest increase we've-- or at least on pace for its largest increase since April of 2013.

And this is a company, guys, that I've been watching really closely because it is the largest solar manufacturer headquartered in the US. And they've offered a bit of a different take from some of these other solar makers, which is to say we're going to rely on manufacturing in the US, bringing everything on board here, as opposed to some of these other solar players who have largely had to rely on China and now some south-- players in Southeast Asia as well. So First Solar being rewarded in a big way.

Last year, they had another expansion of $1.2 billion. So they have been ramping up very rapidly here. The announcement today just the very latest for the company.

SEANA SMITH: Yeah, certainly, we're seeing investors very excited about this announcement. We're also seeing some of its competitors out there rise alongside of it. [? SolarEdge ?] [? Technologies ?] also moving to the upside, And Phase Energy is also gaining today.

And Akiko, you make a great point just in terms of the supply chain and what they're doing in terms of future manufacturing because we know supply chain and higher costs has been a massive issue here for the industry overall. So First Solar's really moving here to produce more in the US. That could really be a differentiating factor here going forward, Allie.

ALEXANDRA CANAL: And if you just take a look at this yearly stock, it is insane. It is up more than 270%. And I do think US adoption of solar is picking up. My parents, they just put in solar panels at their house. So I do think this acquisition was a smart one as First Solar looks to expand its footprint.