First Solar shares gain as analysts issue upbeat comments

Shares climbed $14.05, or 5.3 percent, to $277.40 in afternoon trading.

Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Al Kaschalk raised his price target to $260 from $250. But he also reiterated his "Hold" rating on the shares and warned about the stock's price and volatility.

"Despite the favorable outlook, we do believe valuation matters and suggest investors remain disciplined on what they pay for shares of First Solar," he wrote in a client note.

A day earlier, Goldman Sachs analyst Michael Molnar maintained his "Buy" rating but increased his 2008 earnings per share estimate to $2.93 from $2.78, partly on expectations the company's revenue may increase more quickly than he had thought.

The analysts' actions came after the company reported Wednesday that, for the quarter ended March 29, earnings rose to 57 cents per share on revenue of $196.9 million. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expected, on average, earnings per share of 47 cents on revenue of $183.6 million.

Meanwhile, ThinkEquity Partners analyst Jonathan Hoopes on Thursday downgraded the shares to "Accumulate" from "Buy," on prospects for "heightened competition from polysilicon-based photovoltaic producers and potentially new technologies."