Plug Power (NASDAQ:PLUG) is building fuel cells for stationary generation and electric vehicles, large electrolyzers to produce hydrogen, and industrial-sized green hydrogen production factories in the U.S. and Europe to get ahead of the expected massive switch to hydrogen as a fuel.
The New York-based company on Tuesday posted a first-quarter net loss of $206.6 million (35 cents/share) on revenues of $210 million, but ended the quarter with $1.6 billion in cash.
Once a manufacturer only of small fuel cells for warehouse forklifts, Plug Power now says it is “focused on building a global green hydrogen ecosystem,”
The company has built a large hydrogen generation facility in Georgia in less than a year and is about to begin construction on a plant in Louisiana while negotiating to build a third in Texas, it said in an investor letter issued before the start of a call with analysts.
Plug Power’s plans for electrolyzer sales appear equally ambitious.
“Deliveries into our 2-GW backlog in 2023 range across large-scale projects and 1- to 5-MW containerized solutions,” the investor letter continued. “Meaningful traction with our containerized 5-MW electrolyzer system continues in both the U.S. and Europe, including multiple repeat orders.
“We are also at the final stages of negotiating large-scale project opportunities in the U.S., Europe and Asia-Pacific representing potential bookings over 1 GW.”
Plug also noted that its “Gigafactory” in Rochester, N.Y., is “on track” to produce 100 MW of electrolyzers per month by the middle of the second quarter.
In the face of the quarterly loss, the investor letter presented a “blue sky” future.
“Plug’s speed of execution in our first-of-its-kind green hydrogen plants and commercialized fuel cell products remain unmatched. Our learnings from this journey continue to be invaluable as the company engages in multiple significant business activities, many of which are approaching inflection points.
“With an expected $10 trillion addressable market by 2050 and multibillion-dollar opportunities in the near term across our various product lines, Plug remains fully committed to executing on our strategic priorities in three key business units.”
Plug’s share price fell by nearly 14% to $8.01 over the day Tuesday, on a trading volume of more than 53 million shares, significantly higher than the average volume of 18.6 million.