Plug Power Inc. has resolved “going-concern” issues, but its stock was still falling in Friday’s premarket action after the alternative-energy company missed the mark with its annual results.
While the company’s fourth-quarter earnings release was scheduled for before Friday’s open, the company filed its 10-K annual report with the Securities and Exchange Commission late Thursday. Annual revenue dropped 27% to $891.3 million, according to the filing, and came in below the FactSet consensus of $915.6 million.
Plug Power
PLUG,
which provides hydrogen fuel-cell technology, saw 2023 net losses widen to $1.37 billion, or $2.30 a share, from $724 million, or $1.25 a share, in 2022. The FactSet consensus for net per-share losses was $1.58.
“Recognizing the past challenges with cash management, we are dedicated in 2024 to bolstering our financial profile,” Chief Executive Andy Marsh said in a Friday morning release.
The company disclosed in that release that it has resolved a “going-concern” issue, which was previously disclosed in Plug Power’s September-quarter 10-Q filing.
Plug Power “has determined it has sufficient cash on hand coupled with available liquidity to fund its ongoing operations for the foreseeable future,” the company said in a release. The resolution of the “going-concern” language shows Plug Power’s “financial foundation and commitment to sustainable operations and growth,” according to the company.
Still, shares of Plug Power were falling 7.5% in premarket trading Friday, though they had been down as much as 13.9% earlier.
The results come about a month after the company provided a positive funding update involving a U.S. Department of Energy loan facility. The company also said at that time that results for the fourth quarter were estimated to be lower than expected as the company dealt with “even more unfavorable” market dynamics than it previously thought it would see.
While Plug Power didn’t put out quarterly data in its release, fourth-quarter numbers can be inferred from the company’s disclosures across its latest 10-K and the September 10-Q. For instance, the company delivered 133 megawatts of electrolyzers for the full year and 120 for the first nine months of the year, implying it delivered 13 for the fourth quarter. That compares with Truist Securities analyst Jordan Levy’s expectation for 32 megawatts.
“Along with continued margin pressure from fuel margins, equipment/infrastructure sales margins also dipped heavily into negative territory during the quarter as both electrolyzer and fuel cell sales disappointed into [year end],” he wrote in a Thursday note to clients following the release of the 10-K.
The stock has dropped 21.6% year to date through Thursday while the S&P 500
SPX,
has gained 6.8%.
