Are the Lights Dimming on First Solar?

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) hasn’t been doing too bad for itself: The company has been at work on numerous solar projects and share prices have spent a few months going up. But that may all be turning around for the worse.

In the fourth quarter, First Solar’s net income was $154.2 million, or $1.74 a share, which was a significant step up from the year-ago quarter, which saw a net loss of $413.1 million. Sales rose as well, from $660.4 million to $1.08 billion. The company even beat 21 analysts’ expectations by 27 cents with earnings of $2.04 a share if one excluded restructuring costs.

But concerns about First Solar’s ability to keep up a steady backlog of orders have now arisen, and share price dropped a whopping 17 percent Wednesday, taking out a large chunk of the 23-percent growth that occurred over the last six months. That slip could turn into a steady slide if First Solar’s backlog hollows out more…