It's not easy living on tech's bleeding edge. Companies that set out to change the world often learn to their chagrin that it's an expensive task, and one that frequently transforms today's technological wunderkinder into tomorrow's bankrupt acquisition targets.
Much to the regret of "green" investors, each passing quarter makes that fate more and more likely for hydrogen fuel cell innovator Ballard Power
There's a reason that those two bits of information are of particular importance to Ballard and its investors. Ballard is one of a class of companies that investors term "cash burners." Like peers Plug Power
These dynamics were probably what spooked investors yesterday so much that they sold off Ballard's shares by nearly 10%. Just as nature abhors a vacuum, investors abhor an information vacuum.
Learn more about the prospects (or lack thereof) for eventual profitability in this Rule Breaking industry in:
Fool contributor Rich Smith has no position in any of the companies mentioned in this article.