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First Solar Bear Wants Cab Fare After Missing Meeting (Update1)
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By Jeff Kearns


Dec. 21 (Bloomberg) -- A hedge-fund manager who is betting against First Solar Inc.’s stock wants his $9 cab fare back after he was invited to a company analyst event then turned away at the door.

Andrew Kaplan said he was barred from entering the meeting in New York on Dec. 16 after receiving an invitation. Kaplan, whose firm Harvest Capital Strategies LLC oversees about $1 billion, said he registered for the event at the Westin New York at Times Square through Sapphire Investor Relations LLC, which represents Tempe, Arizona-based First Solar.

“I get my badge, and I’m having a Diet Coke waiting for it to begin and suddenly an IR person comes over and says ‘Sorry, you have to leave,’” Kaplan, who is short First Solar at Harvest Capital in New York, said in an interview today. “It was clearly just a petty thing because the thing was Webcast and there wasn’t a forum for asking questions.”

First Solar is the third most-shorted company in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Short selling is the sale of borrowed stock in the hope of profiting by buying the securities later at a lower price and returning them to the shareholder. The company said Kaplan was never invited to the event and was only able to respond with an RSVP because of an error.

Alan Bernheimer, a spokesman for First Solar, said in an e- mail today that the company’s invitations to investors and analysts included those who are critical of the firm as well as those with favorable opinions.

Embarrassment, Awkwardness

“Andrew Kaplan was not invited to the live event, which had space limitations on attendance, but he managed to RSVP via e- mail and we did not catch the error in advance,” Bernheimer said. “We regret any embarrassment or awkwardness caused by issuing him an admittance badge and then taking it back.”

Bernheimer later said in a phone interview that Kaplan was unintentionally invited to the hotel by Sapphire. He also said Webcast participants were able to ask questions of management after the presentation. He wouldn’t say whether Kaplan would be refunded for his cab ride.

“I don’t have any info about that,” he said.

First Solar advanced 1 percent to $136.99 today. The shares have slipped 0.7 percent this year, trailing the 23 percent gain by the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.

$9 Taxi Fare

Kaplan e-mailed First Solar officials to ask why he was barred and request that the company pay his $9 taxi fare from the hotel back to his office on Park Avenue, where he listened to the analyst conference on the Internet. Kaplan said he runs one of five funds at Harvest Capital. First Solar is the world’s largest maker of thin-film solar-power modules.

“While, I suppose, you have the right to refuse admission to your event to anyone whom you have reason to believe might be disruptive, I find it hard to see how I might fit into that category,” Kaplan wrote in his e-mail to First Solar on Dec. 17. “I was dressed nicely. My hair was combed. I have always conducted myself with decorum at other events, and my questions to management members have always been pertinent and respectful.”

TheStreet.com reported on Kaplan’s letter on Dec. 19.

First Solar forecast higher sales than analysts estimated at the Dec. 16 event. Chief Executive Officer Robert Gillette spoke during the presentation.

Sears, Zions

More than 12.6 million First Solar shares were sold short as of Nov. 30, or 24 percent of the float, or stock available for public trading, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Only Hoffman Estates, Illinois-based Sears Holdings Corp. and Zions Bancorporation of Salt Lake City were more shorted among S&P 500 companies, Bloomberg data show.

Kaplan said First Solar is his largest short position and that he’s been betting against the company for about six months. First Solar is at a disadvantage because production costs for competing technologies that convert sunlight into electricity have fallen, he said.

Kaplan said today he’s still waiting to hear back from the company about why he wasn’t allowed into the venue and whether his cab fare will be refunded.

“No $9 yet,” he said. “I’ll have to write that off.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Jeff Kearns in New York at [e-mail].

Last Updated: December 21, 2009 17:23 EST