FuelCell Energy (FCEL) reports first quarter loss, delays revenue estimates

FuelCell Energy (FCEL) came out with a quarterly loss of $ 0.06 per share against Zacks’ consensus estimate of a loss of $ 0.04. This compares to a loss of $ 0.03 per share a year ago. These numbers are adjusted for non-recurring items.

This quarterly report represents a surprise of gains of -50%. A quarter ago, this manufacturer of fuel cell power plants was expected to post a loss of $ 0.07 per share when it actually produced a loss of $ 0.08, delivering a surprise of -14.29 %.

In the past four quarters, the company has not been able to exceed EPS consensus estimates.

FuelCell Energy, which belongs to Zacks Alternative Energy – Other Industry, recorded revenues of $ 14.88 million in the quarter ended in January 2021, losing Zacks’ consensus estimate by 26.52%. This compares to the previous year’s revenue of $ 16.26 million. The company has exceeded consensus revenue estimates three times in the past four quarters.

The sustainability of the immediate stock price movement based on the newly released figures and expectations of future earnings will depend primarily on management’s comments on the earnings call.

FuelCell Energy’s shares have increased by 62.6% since the beginning of the year against a 5% gain from the S&P 500.

What’s next for FuelCell Energy?

Although FuelCell Energy has outperformed the market so far this year, the question that comes to investors’ minds is: what’s next for the shares?

There are no easy answers to this key question, but a reliable measure that can help investors resolve this is the company’s earnings outlook. This includes not only current earnings consensus expectations for the next quarter (s), but also how those expectations have recently changed.

Empirical research shows a strong correlation between short-term stock movements and trends in revised profit estimates. Investors can follow these reviews on their own or rely on a tried and tested rating tool like Zacks Rank, which has an impressive track record of harnessing the power of profit estimation reviews.

Prior to this earnings release, the trend of revision of estimates for FuelCell Energy was mixed. While the magnitude and direction of revised estimates may change after the company’s recently released earnings report, the current status translates to a Zacks Rank # 3 (Hold) for the stock. Thus, the shares are expected to perform in line with the market in the near future. You can view the full list of today’s Zacks # 1 Rank (Strong Buy) shares here.

It will be interesting to see how the estimates for the coming quarters and the current fiscal year change in the coming days. The current consensus estimate for EPS is – $ 0.04 on $ 19.16 million in revenue for the next quarter and – $ 0.18 on $ 86.93 million in revenue for the current fiscal year.

Investors should be aware of the fact that the outlook for the sector can also have a significant impact on the performance of the shares. In terms of the Zacks Industry Rating, Alternative Energy – Others is currently among the top 38% among the 250+ Zacks industries. Our research shows that the top 50% of industries rated by Zacks surpass the bottom 50% by a factor of more than 2 to 1.

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