DAQO New Energy Corp. (DQ) vs First Solar, Inc. (FSLR)

DAQO New Energy Corp. and First Solar, Inc. are both Solar companies. First Solar, Inc. is the larger, with a market value of $18.7B against $774.8M — 24.1× the size. DAQO New Energy Corp. has negative trailing earnings, so its P/E is not meaningful; First Solar, Inc. trades at 10.9×. First Solar, Inc. grew revenue faster over the last twelve months: 23.8% against −6.28%. First Solar, Inc. has the higher net margin (32.5% vs −34.5%) and the higher return on invested capital (13.1% vs −4.45%). Across the 20 metrics below, First Solar, Inc. leads on 13 and DAQO New Energy Corp. on 7.

Valuation

Metric DQ FSLR Solar median
P/E n/m 10.93 10.93
P/S 0.28 3.55 0.54
P/B 0.03 1.85 1.44
Price to free cash flow n/m 12.73 9.91
EV/EBITDA 4.89 7.40 9.90
EV/Sales (2.55) 3.28 0.74
Earnings yield (24.76%) 9.15% 0.00%
Free cash flow yield (174.96%) 7.86% 0.00%

Profitability

Metric DQ FSLR Solar median
Gross margin (35.45%) 44.02% 31.92%
Operating margin (52.20%) 33.65% (9.70%)
Net margin (34.50%) 32.47% (8.48%)
Free cash flow margin (47.06%) 27.89% (2.95%)
Return on equity 0.00% 18.51% 5.34%
Return on assets (3.04%) 13.30% (5.36%)
Return on invested capital (4.45%) 13.10% (5.27%)

Growth

Metric DQ FSLR Solar median
Revenue growth (TTM) (6.28%) 23.82% 16.97%
EPS growth (last fiscal year) 51.53% 18.22% —
Revenue growth, 5-year CAGR (0.30%) 14.00% 14.00%
Net income growth, 5-year CAGR 0.00% 30.85% 0.00%

Health

Metric DQ FSLR Solar median
Debt to equity 0.00 0.00 0.09
Current ratio 5.81 2.52 1.33
Net debt to EBITDA 68.42 (1.11) 0.03

Dividend

Metric DQ FSLR Solar median
Dividend yield 1.15% — —
Payout ratio 0.00 0.00 0.00

Size

Metric DQ FSLR Solar median
Market cap 774.82m 18.69b 43.46m

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