First Solar, Inc. FSLR is scheduled to report its third-quarter 2017 results after the market closes on Oct 26. Last quarter, the company delivered a positive earnings surprise of 1700.00%.Let’s see how things are shaping up prior to this announcement.Factors to ConsiderDuring the second-quarter earnings call, First Solar declared that it sold the Switch Station 1 and 2 solar projects to EDF Renewable Energy. Majority of the payment related to it are anticipated to be received in the third quarter. This in turn must boost the company’s sales growth in the to-be-reported quarter.Like other solar majors, SunPower Corp. SPWR, Renesola Ltd. SOL and Sunrun Inc. RUN, First Solar’s top line is also expected to be driven by the booming solar market across the globe. In particular, countries like China, Japan and India are investing heavily in solar projects, consequently opening up multiple growth opportunities for the industry.Cumulatively, these factors must result in enhanced quarterly sales growth for the company. Evidently, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its third quarter sales stands at $789.8 million, reflecting annual growth of 16.1%.However, President Trump’s walk out from the landmark Paris deal, apart from initiatives to repeal the Clean Power Plan and boosting coal production has kept the entire solar industry under immense pressure. This in turn may hamper First Solar’s bottom line. In line with this, our consensus estimate for the company’s third-quarter earnings of 85 cents reflects an annual decline of 30.2%.First Solar, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise First Solar, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise | First Solar, Inc. QuoteEarnings WhispersOur proven model does not conclusively show that First Solar will beat estimates this quarter. This is because a stock needs to have both a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) to be able to beat estimates. But that is not the case here, as you will see below. Zacks ESP: First Solar has an Earnings ESP of -0.52%. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP FilterZacks Rank: First Solar’s Zacks Rank #3 increases the predictive power of ESP. However, the company’s negative ESP makes surprise prediction difficult. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.Meanwhile, we caution against Sell-rated stocks (#4 or 5) going into the earnings announcement, especially when the company is seeing negative estimate revisions.Today's Stocks from Zacks' Hottest StrategiesIt's hard to believe, even for us at Zacks. But while the market gained +18.8% from 2016 - Q1 2017, our top stock-picking screens have returned +157.0%, +128.0%, +97.8%, +94.7%, and +90.2% respectively.And this outperformance has not just been a recent phenomenon. Over the years it has been remarkably consistent. From 2000 - Q1 2017, the composite yearly average gain for these strategies has beaten the market more than 11X over. Maybe even more remarkable is the fact that we're willing to share their latest stocks with you without cost or obligation.See Them Free>>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report First Solar, Inc. (FSLR): Free Stock Analysis Report Renesola Ltd. (SOL): Free Stock Analysis Report SunPower Corporation (SPWR): Free Stock Analysis Report Sunrun Inc. (RUN): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research