US solar module maker (First Solar) — thin-film panels for the AI-driven solar buildout
AI exposure 20% — derived from reported segment revenue, not asserted.
Energy Supply & Critical Minerals → Renewable Energy · figures rebased to Q2 2026, reported 2026-07-30
Thin-film CdTe solar modules (utility-scale PV) — for data-center/utility solar + IRA tax credits is 100% of revenue, so Renewable Energy is effectively the whole company rather than one leg of it.
First Solar ($1.056B Q2 2026, -4% YoY) — largest US solar manufacturer (thin-film CdTe, differentiated from Chinese crystalline silicon). Single business: utility-scale solar modules — record backlog driven by data-center/AI power demand + IRA domestic-content credits. Primary B4 Renewable Energy. Supplies solar to utilities/developers powering data centers; competes Chinese module makers (off-map).
Moat. CdTe thin-film technology no rival produces at scale, US manufacturing footprint, and ~$2.1B/yr of Section 45X manufacturing credits. CuRe (first module March 2026, fleet replication targeted through H1 2028) claims up to 8% more lifetime energy yield versus TOPCon — the route from a subsidy story to a technology-premium story.
Bottleneck / pricing power. Pricing power is policy-shaped and currently self-suspended: First Solar is deliberately limiting new US bookings and holding ~2 GW of finished Malaysia/Vietnam capacity idle pending a Section 232 determination, so contracted backlog fell to 45.1 GW at June 30 from 47.9 GW at March 31 and 54.5 GW last autumn. The unit economics are not in doubt — 57% gross margin and $3.92 EPS in Q2 2026.
Role in the AI stack. The US solar-module manufacturing layer.
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