New Fortress Energy (NFE -8.93%) stock is getting hit with big sell-offs in Friday's trading. The company's share price was down 10.4% as of 2:30 p.m. ET. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite were both up 0.4%.
Bloomberg reported earlier this week that Puerto Rico had pulled out of negotiations with New Fortress Energy for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) deal. Investors had viewed landing the contract as a potential financial lifeline for the debt-laden energy company, and shareholders are selling out of the stock now that a deal could be off the table.
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New Fortress stock sinks following LNG contract news
New Fortress Energy stock skyrocketed at the end of last month following reports that the company was on track to win a 15-year LNG contract with Puerto Rico worth roughly $20 billion. Unfortunately, it now looks like the deal may not go through. New Fortress was reportedly unwilling to accept amended contract terms, and Puerto Rico's officials have reportedly walked away from negotiations. With today's sell-off, the stock is now down 75.5% across this year's trading.
What's next for New Fortress Energy?
While the latest updates on the Puerto Rican LNG deal are far from promising, there's still a chance that the two sides will be able to come together and reach an agreement. Missing out on the deal would be a big loss for New Fortress.
Puerto Rico's negotiators reportedly had concerns that the deal would give Fortress Energy an LNG monopoly, but it's possible that the company could wind up accepting conditions that had been proposed to alleviate the issue. With the company's debt load raising bankruptcy concerns, incentives could align for New Fortress to make concessions in order to secure the deal and shore up a new revenue source.
