Three days ago, Roth Capital urged investors to buy Bloom Energy (BE +5.06%) stock ahead of Q4 earnings. Three days later, Bloom has just reported earnings and... it turns out, Roth was right.
Last night, Bloom reported earning $0.45 per share, adjusted for one-time items, on sales of $777.7 million. These numbers beat analyst forecasts on both top and bottom lines. Bloom stock is reacting positively to the news, up about 1% as of 10 a.m. ET.
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Bloom Energy Q4 earnings
That sounds like good news -- but it could have been great news. Bloom stock actually opened up 12% this morning, so it's already given back most of its gains. And the question is: Why?
Profitability may be the problem.
Q4 sales climbed 36% year over year, but Bloom's gross profit margin declined by 750 basis points, and the company's operating margin shrank 700 basis points to 11.3%. Bloom may have beaten on "adjusted" earnings, but its earnings as calculated according to generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) were within a rounding error of $0.00 per share -- breakeven.
NYSE: BE
Key Data Points
Is Bloom stock a buy?
Full-year results were even worse. Bloom grew sales 37% year over year in 2025, to $2 billion. Its operating margin was only 3.6%, however, and on the bottom line, Bloom lost $0.37 per share, GAAP -- roughly three times its losses in 2024.
The good news is that, with Q4 results stronger than the year as a whole, this hydrogen stock appears to have the wind at its back right now. In 2026, the company forecasts 60% sales growth to $3.2 billion, better margins, and (non-GAAP) earnings of about $1.40 per share.
At a $140 stock price, Bloom stock costs at least 100x earnings. That's too expensive for me.
