What happened
Hydrogen fuel cell stocks are rising on Tuesday, the first trading day after the United States Department of Energy (DOE) made a major announcement that promises to help boost the hydrogen economy in the future.
Until 12:30 EST:
- Bloom Energy (NYSE: BE) shares rose 7.1%;
- Plug Power (NASDAQ: PLUG) gained 8.5%;
- Ballard Power Systems (NASDAQ: BLDP) shares increased 8.7%; and
- FuelCell Energy (NASDAQ: FCEL) is leading the entire group – up to 9.1%.
Image source: Getty Images.
And
Three factors appear to be at play today: analyst updates, the DOE announcement and earnings. Let’s take one at a time.
Ballard Power is one of today’s biggest fuel cell winners, and for good reason. This morning, BMO Capital analysts announced that they had started covering Ballard with a purchase rating and a target price of $ 39, reports StreetInsider.com.
Plug may be the fuel cell company dominating all headlines lately, but about 45% of fuel cell vehicles running in China today are running on Ballard Power fuel cells, notes BMO. Eighty percent of fuel cell buses in Europe are also from Ballard, as are 95% of fuel cell buses in operation in California. BMO believes that Ballard’s “industry-proven proven durability” and technical expertise will prove to be “competitive advantages” in the future, as Ballard prepares for the rapid potential growth that is developing in the emerging market for heavy duty cell trucks. fuel in the next two to three years. “
And speaking of growth, DOE gave the fuel cell industry a big boost towards its growth targets on Friday, when it announced $ 160 million in subsidies to finance “production, transportation, storage and use of fossil-based hydrogen “. Although this appears to be at odds with initiatives such as the Plug Power project to produce “green hydrogen” (ie hydrogen separated from water through electricity generated from solar and wind energy), it is still moneyand free government money can only be good news for fuel cell stocks.
What now
How good are things going to be, with the US government throwing its weight – and checkbook – into the fuel cell industry?
We’ll see how things are going for fuel cell companies on Wednesday, when FuelCell Energy reports its fourth quarter and fiscal 2020 financial results before the market opens. Analysts expect a 54% increase in FuelCell sales and a reduction in net loss ($ 0.04 per share – check back on Thursday to see how it works).
So, we’ll take a break for a few weeks, until the Bloom Energy reports it is The fourth quarter results on February 10, followed a few weeks later by the Plug Power report on March 3. Ballard has not yet announced a date for his earnings, but since he reported in early March last year, it is a safe bet that the fourth quarter of 2020 earnings will come out in March again in 2021.
To be worth it, no analyst is predicting that any these companies, in fact, report having won anything in their “profit” days. Bloom Energy, however, is expected to come closer, with equilibrium profits predicted at a 5% gain in sales.
Fingers crossed.