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Courtesy Plug Power
Shares of
Plug Power
fell Tuesday after the fuel-cell company reported a wider-than-expected first-loss and revenue that missed Wall Street forecasts.
Plug Power (ticker: PLUG) fell 1.1% to $16.45. The stock sank 14.3% on Monday during a Wall Street selloff that saw equities fall to their lowest levels of the year. Plug Power shares have declined 42% in 2022.
The company reported a first-quarter loss of 27 cents a share, wider than a year-earlier loss of 12 cents a share, and analysts’ expectations for a loss of 16 cents. Revenue jumped 96% to $140.8 million but was below forecasts of $144.8 million.
Plug Power said margins in its fuel business “continue to remain underpressure,” with the company citing increased hydrogen molecule costs related to higher natural gas prices.
“We expect margins to remain under pressure in Q2 2022 driven by continued increase in natural gas prices,” Plug Power said in a statement. “We are also focused on reducing logistics costs and improving system efficiency to mitigate some of these commodity and inflationary pressures in the near term.”
The company reaffirmed targets for 2025 targets of $3 billion in annual sales, 30% gross margin, and 17% operating margin.
Analysts at Evercore ISI, led by James West, said gross margins already have reached this target in the company’s material handling business “due to steady learning curves and scale.
“PLUG has reduced its material handling systems costs by 25% each time it has doubled volumes,” West wrote in a research note.
Evercore reiterated its Outperform rating on Plug Power. The analysts have a target price of $45 on the stock.
Last month, Plug Power announced a delivery agreement with
Walmart
(WMT).
Write to Joe Woelfel at joseph.woelfel@barrons.com