What happened
Shares of Plug Power (PLUG +4.19%) have had a rough start to 2022, just like many names in the alternative energy sector. Its shares are down more than 12% year to date. But investors are looking forward to a business update management is giving next week, and they may be expecting to hear good things. Plug shares jumped 4.4% in early trading today before paring those gains as the morning wore on. As of 11:41 a.m. ET, the stock was 1.2% above Wednesday's closing price.
So what
The hydrogen fuel cell company has increased its business projections in several previous updates, and some investors might be trying to get ahead of another round of anticipated increased revenue expectations. In its 2021 third-quarter financial report, Plug said it expects revenue in 2022 to grow more than 80% over 2021, to a range of $900 million to $925 million. Investors will be looking to see if management boosts that again next week.
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The company also most recently said it expects to see annual revenue grow to $3 billion by 2025.
Now what
To reach that objective, Plug has announced several partnerships abroad to support hydrogen-fuel infrastructure and grow the use of hydrogen in transportation. Those efforts include a joint venture (JV) with French automaker Renault; an agreement to produce hydrogen-fueled city buses with Edison Motors, a leading Korean electric car manufacturer, and a JV to expand the use of green hydrogen in Spain and Portugal.
It has also worked to build a national network of green-hydrogen production facilities in the U.S. The company update coming on Jan. 19 will need to give investors more good news if it hopes to stay on track for its growth projections.
Perhaps more importantly, investors will want to hear how the company plans to translate that growth into profit. Plug has reported a net loss of more than $267 million through the first nine months of 2021. That will need to change for the stock to continue to move higher.
