First Solar vs Microchip Technology
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The short version
- First Solar is the larger business, with $5.2B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $4.7B for Microchip Technology.
- First Solar grew revenue faster (24.1%, against 7.1%).
- First Solar kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (30.6% operating margin, against 10.4%).
- First Solar turned more of its sales into free cash flow (22.8% FCF margin, against 18.5%).
- First Solar earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (22.7%, against 3.5%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Microchip Technology’s earnings: a P/E of 108.9x against 10.6x for First Solar.
| Latest fiscal year | FSLR · FY25 | MCHP · FY26 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $18.5B | $40.8B |
| Revenue | $5.2B | $4.7B |
| Free cash flow | $1.2B | $871M |
| Net income | $1.5B | $230M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 24.1% | 7.1% |
| 5-year growth | 14.0% | −2.8% |
| Share count change | 0.0% | 1.5% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 40.6% | 57.7% |
| Operating margin | 30.6% | 10.4% |
| Net margin | 29.3% | 4.9% |
| FCF margin | 22.8% | 18.5% |
| Return on capital | 22.7% | 3.5% |
| Return on equity | 17.5% | 3.4% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | −$2.5B | $5.3B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | −1.2x | 4.5x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $0.0M | $984M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 10.6x | 108.9x |
| Piotroski F-score | 7 | 6 |
Revenue
FY17
FSLR $2.9B
MCHP $3.4B
FY18
FSLR $2.2B
MCHP $4.0B
FY19
FSLR $3.1B
MCHP $5.3B
FY20
FSLR $2.7B
MCHP $5.3B
FY21
FSLR $2.9B
MCHP $5.4B
FY22
FSLR $2.6B
MCHP $6.8B
FY23
FSLR $3.3B
MCHP $8.4B
FY24
FSLR $4.2B
MCHP $7.6B
FY25
FSLR $5.2B
MCHP $4.4B
FY26
FSLR —
MCHP $4.7B
FSLR
MCHP
Operating margin
FY17
FSLR 6.1%
MCHP 8.1%
FY18
FSLR 1.8%
MCHP 23.5%
FY19
FSLR −5.3%
MCHP 13.4%
FY20
FSLR 11.7%
MCHP 12.3%
FY21
FSLR 20.1%
MCHP 18.4%
FY22
FSLR −1.0%
MCHP 27.1%
FY23
FSLR 25.8%
MCHP 36.9%
FY24
FSLR 33.2%
MCHP 33.7%
FY25
FSLR 30.6%
MCHP 6.7%
FY26
FSLR —
MCHP 10.4%
FSLR
MCHP
Free cash flow
FY17
FSLR $826M
MCHP $1.0B
FY18
FSLR −$1.1B
MCHP $1.2B
FY19
FSLR −$495M
MCHP $1.4B
FY20
FSLR −$380M
MCHP $1.5B
FY21
FSLR −$303M
MCHP $1.8B
FY22
FSLR −$30.2M
MCHP $2.5B
FY23
FSLR −$785M
MCHP $3.1B
FY24
FSLR −$308M
MCHP $2.6B
FY25
FSLR $1.2B
MCHP $772M
FY26
FSLR —
MCHP $871M
FSLR
MCHP
Return on capital
FY17
FSLR 2.7%
MCHP 7.8%
FY18
FSLR 1.4%
MCHP 10.3%
FY19
FSLR −3.9%
MCHP 7.4%
FY20
FSLR 8.5%
MCHP 4.3%
FY21
FSLR 11.4%
MCHP 7.0%
FY22
FSLR −0.4%
MCHP 11.8%
FY23
FSLR 18.8%
MCHP 18.5%
FY24
FSLR 22.0%
MCHP 16.5%
FY25
FSLR 22.7%
MCHP 1.2%
FY26
FSLR —
MCHP 3.5%
FSLR
MCHP
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.