Plug Power (PLUG) stock ran higher Wednesday and Thursday, clocking a 38% gain for the week through Thursday. A bullish analyst note powered the beleaguered clean-energy hydrogen play, along with news that production at a new plant is underway. PLUG stock was volatile early Friday, reversing premarket gains to open lower.
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The Latham, N.Y.-based clean energy play has increasingly focused its business on the green hydrogen supply chain, manufacturing fuel cells and electrolyzers, and offering storage and transportation solutions.
On Wednesday, PLUG stock surged 19.3% after Roth MKM’s Craig Irwin issued a bullish analyst note after visiting the company’s Georgia plant. On Thursday, PLUG announced the green hydrogen production factory had completed its first customer order, sending liquid hydrogen to Amazon (AMZN), Walmart (WMT) and Home Depot (HD). Plug Power has struggled to meet hydrogen supply despite signing customer contracts.
Irwin upgraded PLUG to a buy with a $9 price target on the shares, which have cratered from their all-time high in 2021. In November 2023, Plug Power announced it needed to raise money to fund continuing operations. In January, the company then reported approval for a stock-sale plan and also provided an update on its funding progress. However, funding for the company remains a major concern.
Plug has struggled to splice together financing as industry shifts and a slower-than-expected ramp-up in its production left it carrying heavy costs. Shares dropped 94% between January 2021 and the end of November.
But Chief Executive Andy Marsh told Barron’s on Tuesday that short sellers banking on further losses from PLUG stock could be making a bad calculation.
“When investors are telling me I am great, I don’t really buy it,” Marsh told Barrons. “When they tell me I’m a bum, I really don’t buy it.”
PLUG stock advanced 4% Friday during premarket action. Shares then reversed to open to a 3.3% decline.
Investors Await Presidential Election Result For Clean-Energy Stock Clarity
Plug Power Stock
The company went public in 2002. Plug Power’s legacy business is in supplying hydrogen fuel cells mainly for forklifts in large warehouses. Its fuel cells replace conventional batteries in equipment and vehicles powered by electricity. Plug Power clients include retail giants Amazon, Walmart, Nike (NKE) and Home Depot.
But the company has increasingly shifted its focus to the hydrogen supply chain, aiming to become the largest green hydrogen producer in the world. As a first step, it targets production of more than half of its hydrogen energy from entirely renewable sources by 2024. It also has targeted branching out from forklifts to heavy-duty vehicles to serve ports in the U.S. and Europe, as well as stationary fuel cells to power data centers and distribution hubs.
In January, 2021, PLUG hit a high of 75.49. PLUG stock has gained more than 4% so far in 2024.
Please follow Kit Norton on X, formerly known as Twitter, @KitNorton for more coverage.
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