Why Plug Power Stock Got Destroyed on Friday
By Rich Smith – Nov 10, 2023 at 12:52PM
Key Points
Plug Power missed on both the top and bottom lines last night.
Sales grew more slowly than hoped, and expenses rose more steeply.
Cash continues to burn, and Plug may be running out of money.
10 stocks we like better than Plug Power
NASDAQ: PLUG
Plug Power
Plug Power Stock Quote
Market Cap
$4B
Today's Change
(-40.47%) -$2.40
Current Price
$3.53
Price as of November 10, 2023, 4:00 p.m. ET
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Plug Power may not be able to survive as a going concern.
Shares of renewable energy company Plug Power (PLUG -40.47%) plunged 41.3% through 11:05 a.m. ET Friday morning after the company reported a big earnings miss last night.
Heading into Q3, analysts weren't exactly optimistic about Plug, predicting the hydrogen fuel cell manufacturer and hydrogen gas producer would lose $0.30 per share on sales of only $238.9 million -- yet Plug managed to underperform even these predictions.
The company reported sales of only $198.7 million, and lost $0.47 per share -- 57% worse than predicted.
Plug Power management blamed "unprecedented supply challenges in the hydrogen network
in North America" for its troubles, but at the same time said this is only "a transitory issue." The company also noted that while its equipment sales fell 8% year over year, revenues from fuel sales, power sales, and services all grew, with the result that total sales -- although they missed expectations -- were still up 5% year over year.
That's the good news.
The bad news is that even if sales had grown as fast as hoped, Plug would have lost a lot of money in Q3. As it turned out, with sales growing more slowly, cost of sales rose 43%, dooming Plug to a loss. This loss was then exacerbated by 20% growth in operating costs. On the bottom line, this ended with Plug losing the aforementioned $0.47 per share, 57% worse then expected and 57% worse than last year.
Plug Power has a going concern concern
And even there, the bad news wasn't done.
So far this year, Plug Power has racked up GAAP losses of $726.4 million, but the news is even worse than that. Cash burn year to date has reached $1.35 billion. That's 60% worse than last year at this time. It's 85% worse than how one might think Plug was doing, judging from the GAAP loss alone.
What's more, if Plug continues burning cash at its current rate, it's on course to consume a further $450 million by the end of this year. The problem is that Plug only has about $110 million in cash and equivalents at present. While the company does also have $226 million in "restricted cash" and a further $389 million in "available-for-sale securities," and can presumably convert them into cash, at its present pace, the company is probably going to be dead broke about halfway through Q1 2024.
No wonder, then, that management ended its earnings release with a note that its "ability to continue as a going concern" is now in question. And with that warning in mind, it's no surprise investors are now selling the stock.