First Solar, Inc.

Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to First Solar's first quarter 2024 earnings call. This call is being webcast live on the investor section of First Solar's website at investor.firstsolar.com. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. As a reminder, today's call is being recorded. I would now like to turn the call over to Richard Romero from First Solar Investor Relations. Richard, you may begin.

Good afternoon, and thank you for joining us. Today, the company issued a press release announcing its first quarter 2024 financial results. A copy of the press release and associated presentation are available on our website at investor.firstsolar.com. With me today are Mark Widmar, Chief Executive Officer, and Alex Bradley, Chief Financial Officer. Mark will provide business strategy and policy updates. Alex will discuss our bookings, pipeline, quarterly financial results, and provide updated guidance. Following their remarks, we will open the call for questions. Please note this call will include forward-looking statements that include risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from management's current expectations. We encourage you to review the safe harbor statements contained in today's press release and presentation for more complete description. It is now my pleasure to introduce Mark Widmar, Chief Executive Officer.

Good afternoon and thank you for joining us today. We are pleased with our start to 2024 with good operating performance, selective year-to-date bookings at 2.7 gigawatts with an ASP over 31 cents per watt excluding adjusters or 32.7 cents per watt assuming the realization of technology adjusters and solid financial performance. We're also pleased with the developing foundations to enable our long-term goal of exiting this decade in a stronger position than we entered it. From increasing production of our most advantaged Series 7 module to expanding our manufacturing footprint to the building of an R&D innovation center and perovskite development line that is expected to enable development of the next generation of disruptive solar technology, we are focused on a future of differentiation and sustainable growth. But while we continue to play the long game, we must acknowledge the current environment in the solar manufacturing industry, which remains in a state of heightened volatility, driven by intentional structural overcapacity in China. As we previously said, our ability to play this long game is a direct result of our differentiated technology and business model. From a technological perspective, the contrast is clear between our unique proprietary cadmium telluride semiconductor technology, and highly commoditized crystalline silicon modules. This difference has become increasingly apparent in light of the recently announced disputes concerning alleged infringement of TopConCell technology and intellectual property rights, which cast doubts on numerous crystalline silicon producers having the freedom to legally manufacture and sell this technology. From a business model and growth perspective, we are once again reminded of the value of our balanced approach to growth, liquidity, and profitability. According to reporting, large Chinese solar companies have warned of potential quality and reliability issues as manufacturers cut corners and the impact of the current oversupply environment and associated financial stress on R&D and innovation. By contrast, we continue to invest. We are on track to commission our R&D Innovation Center and a perovskite development line in Ohio in the second half of this year, representing the combined investment of nearly half a billion dollars. And we continue to optimize our products for energy efficiency and cost. In the face of overcapacity, the average large Chinese solar manufacturing facility reportedly had a record low capacity utilization rate of 23% in February of this year. In contrast, supported by our large contract backlog, our facilities were operating near nameplate capacity in the first quarter of this year. The Chinese solar industry is engaged in a race to the bottom, with a rationally low market-distorting pricing that has caused even Chinese companies to call for intervention by the Chinese government to manage the pricing environment and stem the financial hardship this is causing them. By contrast, we remain focused on a highly selective approach to forward contracting and that provides optionality and healthy ASPs. We are not immune to the broader ramifications of the Chinese solar business model. However, we continue to focus on our points of differentiation, which aim to provide some resiliency in light of current industry challenges. We're also focused on policy and trade drivers that can counter anti-competitive and abusive market behaviors. There should be no doubt, we invite competition and free trade. All we continue to seek is that the competition and trade are practiced on a fair and level playing field. We believe this approach will help us to drive growth, navigate industry volatility, and deliver enduring shareholder value. On slide three, I will share some highlights from the first quarter. From a commercial perspective, we continued our selective approach to building backlog underpinned by our cumulatively oversold position through 2026. Since our last earnings call approximately nine weeks ago, we have booked 854 megawatts with an ASP of 30.1 cents per watt, excluding adjusters where applicable. This brings our year-to-date net bookings to 2.7 gigawatts with an average ASP of 31.3 cents per watt, excluding adjusters, or 32.7 cents per watt, assuming the realization of technology adjusters. Our total contracted backlog now stands at 78.3 gigawatts with order stretching through 2030. From a manufacturing perspective, we are pleased with our solid Q1 performance, including producing a record 3.6 gigawatts of modules as a result of our relentless focus on manufacturing excellence. From a technology perspective, we are pleased with our CURE module field test and have completed the UL and IEC certification process. We continue to anticipate launching CURE at our lead line factory in Ohio in Q4 of this year. In parallel to preparing for launch, we continue to make progress on technical solutions that could enable accelerating CURE's replication across our factories at a lower capex than assumed at our recent analyst stage. While Alex will provide a comprehensive overview of our first quarter 2024 financial results, I would like to highlight our ability to deliver strong performance in a market challenged by Chinese oversupply, which, in our view, validates our approach to long-term forward contracting. This led to first quarter earnings per diluted share of $2.20 and a quarter-end net cash balance of $1.4 billion. Moving to slide four, Our growth plans remain on track. The expansion of our Perrysburg, Ohio manufacturing footprint is expected to be completed, and commercial shipments are expected to begin before the end of the second quarter. Construction activity at our new facility in Alabama is complete, and the first tools are now being installed in preparation for the expected start of commercial shipments in the second half of this year. Our new Louisiana facility is also on track with a start in commercial operations expected in late 2025. Internationally, our India facility is continuing to ramp, and we're proud that the first Indian-made Series 7 modules have been deployed in the field. We therefore expect to exit 2024 with over 21 gigawatts of global nameplate capacity and 2026 with over 25 gigawatts of nameplate capacity. All this capacity is available to serve the U.S. market, with over half of our capacity physically located in the U.S. Additionally, we are on track to commission the previously mentioned R&D projects at Ohio in the second half of this year, which will comprise a perovskite development line and a new R&D innovation center at our Perrysburg campus. The innovation center features a high-tech Cattail pilot line, which we expect will accelerate our development activities and bring capabilities for full-size prototyping of thin film and tandem PV modules. At our analyst day in September 2023, we talked about the need to create a disruptive, transformative technology platform that balances energy efficiency and cost. We believe that these investments in R&D will help accelerate our cycles of innovation, optimize our technology roadmap, and reinforce our position of strength through technology leadership. I'll now turn the call over to Alex to discuss our bookings, pipeline, and financials.