Fuel cell energy technology could make a big move next year and that could bode very well for New York-based Plug Power (PLUG -1.25%). The company has seen it shares skyrocket in recent sessions on the heels of management making bold, positive comments on its year-end business update. CEO Andy Marsh told investors to look for his company to be profitable in 2014 and was quoted saying, "As we continue to book more orders during the month of December, Plug Power is on track for a 'blowout' quarter."
Marsh hinted to investors to expect a turnkey hydrogen deal with a major player to be announced by year-end for 3-6 sites and as many as 1,500 units. Management believes it is a true leader in fuel-cell technology and that it will be hard for competitors to duplicate what PLUG is providing to its customers. It's important for investors to note that Plug is not just providing infrastructure-it can provide multi-year service (ex. of service clients are Sysco, BMW). The company said to expect one or two new auto clients announced in Q114 to complement its growing hydrogen provider relationship with Kroger (KR -0.43%) and Wal-Mart (WMT 0.57%).
Obviously, investors are applauding Plug for saying it believes all systematic issues are now behind them. Also, a positive takeaway way the company being proactive and looking to benefit from increased scale of hydrogen fuel cells and a more diverse supplier base. Expect the company to move forward in 2014 with new relationships in ground support with FedEx (FDX -0.21%) and transportation refrigeration. At current levels, I believe the stock is a bit rich, though, since hydrogen is still predominantly generated from splitting natural gas. The issue with that is the leftover CO2, which makes hydrogen not as eco-friendly as some would lead you to believe. I'm all for hydrogen but until we can master creating hydrogen from electricity generated from renewable sources, investors may be putting the hydrogen cart before the mechanical stacked fuel-cell horse.
