NXT vs FSLR vs CSIQ Stock Comparison

Nextpower, First Solar and Canadian Solar Prices as of Nov 2, 2026 Peers: Industry group
NXT Nextpower Inc.
$91.13 +8.1% 1M -10.0% 1Y
Market cap
$16.35B
P/E
26.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$3.83B
Div. yield
–
Solar Equipment Industrials
2 wins
FSLR First Solar, Inc.
$182.05 +4.3% 1M -31.8% 1Y
Market cap
$21.36B
P/E
11.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$5.01B
Div. yield
–
Solar Equipment Industrials
8 wins
CSIQ Canadian Solar Inc.
$9.41 -15.9% 1M -54.7% 1Y
Market cap
$743.75M
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$4.99B
Div. yield
–
Solar Equipment Industrials

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

First Solar leads on 8 of the 12 questions below (First Solar 8, Nextpower 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionNXTFSLRCSIQLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $16.35B $21.36B $743.75M FSLR
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 26.7x 11.5x -3.1x FSLR
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 22.0x 10.1x — FSLR
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +17.0% -0.7% -15.7% NXT
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 16.4% 37.1% -4.9% FSLR
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 17.1% -0.2% FSLR
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — -0.6x — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -10.0% -31.8% -54.7% NXT
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years — +9.3%/yr -25.0%/yr FSLR
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 67.3% 52.5% 89.6% FSLR
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 81/100 86/100 45/100 FSLR

Percentile Scorecard

NXTFSLRCSIQ

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisNXTFSLRCSIQ
Valuation 89 #8 of 62 92 #6 of 62 85 #10 of 62
Growth 81 #12 of 59 76 #15 of 59 9 #54 of 59
Profitability 98 #2 of 55 94 #4 of 55 63 #21 of 55
Financial Health 78 #17 of 72 83 #13 of 72 23 #56 of 72
Shareholder Returns 60 #13 of 31 – –
Overall 81 86 45
  • NXT ranked among 72 companies in Clean Energy Equipment
  • FSLR ranked among 72 companies in Clean Energy Equipment
  • CSIQ ranked among 72 companies in Clean Energy Equipment

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodNXTFSLRCSIQSPY
1 month +8.1%+4.3%-15.9% -2.3%
3 months +0.5%-21.8%-39.4% -0.7%
6 months -22.1%-13.9%-40.7% +4.8%
Year to date +4.6%-30.3%-60.4% +10.3%
1 year -10.0%-31.8%-54.7% +10.3%
3 years +145.0%+19.8%-56.5% +73.0%
3 years, per year +34.8%+6.2%-24.3% +20.1%
5 years —+55.8%-76.2% +61.9%
5 years, per year —+9.3%-25.0% +10.1%
10 years —+348.6%-34.7% +258.6%
10 years, per year —+16.2%-4.2% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureNXTFSLRCSIQSPY
Volatility, 1Y 67.3%52.5%89.6% 12.8%
Downside volatility, 1Y 66.5%56.3%98.6% 12.8%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 2.641.742.61 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.15-0.61-0.61 0.80
Max drawdown, 5Y -51.1%-60.0%-85.6% -25.4%
From 52-week high -41.7%-42.8%-72.0% -3.5%
52-week high $156.40$318.25$33.58 $779.14
52-week low $76.48$168.15$8.85 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleNXTFSLRCSIQ
P/E now vs peer median 23.1xmedian 29.1x 10.5xmedian 29.1x -2.6xmedian 29.1x
P/S now vs peer median 3.8xmedian 2.3x 3.9xmedian 2.3x 0.1xmedian 2.3x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 17.1xmedian 18.5x 7.3xmedian 18.5x —median 18.5x
P/FCF now vs peer median 25.2xmedian 28.9x 84.1xmedian 28.9x 2.0xmedian 28.9x
P/B now vs peer median 5.4xmedian 1.8x 1.8xmedian 1.8x 0.2xmedian 1.8x
PEG now vs peer median 0.12median 0.81 0.18median 0.81 0.07median 0.81

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsNXTFSLRCSIQ
Revenue $3.83B $5.01B $4.99B
Gross profit $1.27B $2.47B $820.00M
Operating income $728.14M $1.89B -$27.67M
Net income $612.65M $1.86B -$251.16M
Free cash flow $512.30M $232.79M $311.68M
R&D $162.54M $276.36M $83.20M
EPS (diluted) $3.98 $17.28 $-3.60
Cash & equivalents $1.03B $1.58B $1.46B
Total debt – $107.67M $6.38B
Shares (diluted) 153.91M 107.70M 67.37M
Enterprise value $12.06B $12.73B -$5.29B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricNXTFSLRCSIQ
P/E 23.1x 10.5x -2.6x
P/FCF 25.2x 84.1x 2.0x
P/Operating cash flow 22.9x 23.3x -1.1x
P/S 3.8x 3.9x 0.1x
P/B 5.4x 1.8x 0.2x
P/Tangible book 5.6x 1.8x 0.2x
EV/EBITDA 17.1x 7.3x –
EV/EBIT 18.0x 9.6x -200.8x
EV/Revenue 3.5x 3.6x 1.1x
EV/FCF 23.0x 77.5x 17.8x
EV/Operating cash flow 20.9x 21.5x -9.8x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.12 0.18 0.07

Growth

14 metrics
MetricNXTFSLRCSIQ
Revenue growth (1Y) 17.0% -0.7% -15.7%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 22.4% 16.6% -14.4%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 15.3% 22.1% -26.1%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 51.3% 42.2% -17.7%
Operating income growth (1Y) 5.5% 25.5% 48.9%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 48.9% 65.9% -27.0%
Net income growth (1Y) 8.1% 32.9% -44.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 54.6% 57.8% -35.7%
EPS growth (1Y) 6.1% 32.7% -1,020%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 196.5% 57.7% -36.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -2.2% -48.4% -135.9%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 22.2% 0.1% -39.4%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -4.4% -62.1% -51.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 18.8% 34.6% -43.3%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricNXTFSLRCSIQ
Gross margin 33.4% 49.3% 16.4%
EBITDA margin 20.3% 49.5% –
Operating margin 19.3% 37.7% -0.6%
Pretax margin 19.9% 38.5% -3.7%
Net margin 16.4% 37.1% -4.9%
FCF margin 15.1% 4.6% 6.2%
Operating cash flow margin 16.6% 16.7% -11.4%
Return on equity 24.3% 17.6% -6.3%
Return on assets 14.3% 13.6% -1.6%
Return on invested capital – 17.1% -0.2%
Return on capital employed 23.1% 16.2% -0.3%
Asset turnover 0.9x 0.4x 0.3x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.0x 0.5x 2.3x
Stock comp / revenue – 0.5% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricNXTFSLRCSIQ
Debt / assets – 0.8% 39.6%
Debt / equity – 0.0x 1.6x
Net debt / EBITDA – -0.6x –
Debt / FCF – 0.5x 20.5x
Liabilities / assets 40.0% 22.4% 75.6%
Equity / assets 60.0% 77.6% 24.4%
Interest coverage – 70.3x -0.1x
Current ratio 2.7x 2.6x 1.0x
Quick ratio 2.0x 1.7x 0.4x
Cash ratio 1.1x 0.8x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 6.20 5.63 0.47

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricNXTFSLRCSIQ
Dividend yield – – –
Net buyback yield -0.2% – –
Shareholder yield -0.2% – –
Payout ratio (earnings) – – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusNXTFSLRCSIQ
Forward P/E 22.0xFY2026 10.1xFY2026 –
EPS, next fiscal year $4.36FY2026 $18.48FY2026 $-2.62FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -3.1%FY2026 +30.0%FY2026 –
EPS growth, the year after +37.6% +21.3% –
Revenue, next fiscal year $4.11BFY2026 $5.34BFY2026 $5.88BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +15.4%FY2026 +2.3%FY2026 +5.0%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +29.5% +16.7% +21.9%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersNXTFSLRCSIQ
Held by institutions 0.0% 93.1% 60.5%
Institutions holding 2 1,012 156
Change in shares held, QoQ – +5.9% +23.0%
Institutions buying 0 499 98
Institutions selling 1 356 32
Buyers to sellers 0.00 1.40 3.06

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

NXTFSLRCSIQ
NXT 1.00 0.52 0.40
FSLR 0.52 1.00 0.50
CSIQ 0.40 0.50 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, NXT, FSLR and CSIQ?

First Solar (FSLR) is the largest by market capitalisation: Nextpower (NXT) $16.35B, First Solar (FSLR) $21.36B, Canadian Solar (CSIQ) $743.75M.

Which stock is cheaper, NXT, FSLR and CSIQ?

First Solar (FSLR) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Nextpower (NXT) 26.7x, First Solar (FSLR) 11.5x, Canadian Solar (CSIQ) -3.1x). On next year's consensus earnings, First Solar (FSLR) is cheapest (Nextpower (NXT) 22.0x, First Solar (FSLR) 10.1x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Nextpower (NXT) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Nextpower (NXT) +17.0%, First Solar (FSLR) -0.7%, Canadian Solar (CSIQ) -15.7%.

Which company is more profitable?

First Solar (FSLR) has the highest net margin (Nextpower (NXT) 16.4%, First Solar (FSLR) 37.1%, Canadian Solar (CSIQ) -4.9%). On return on invested capital, First Solar (FSLR) leads (First Solar (FSLR) 17.1%, Canadian Solar (CSIQ) -0.2%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Nextpower (NXT) returned the most: Nextpower (NXT) -10.0%, First Solar (FSLR) -31.8%, Canadian Solar (CSIQ) -54.7%. Over five years, First Solar (FSLR) compounded fastest (First Solar (FSLR) +9.3%/yr, Canadian Solar (CSIQ) -25.0%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, First Solar (FSLR) has been the steadiest (Nextpower (NXT) 67.3%, First Solar (FSLR) 52.5%, Canadian Solar (CSIQ) 89.6%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, NXT, FSLR and CSIQ?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, First Solar (FSLR) leads on 8. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.