Plug Power (PLUG) Q4 loss widens but meets estimates

Alternative energy technology company Plug Power Inc. (NASDAQ: PLUG) reported a wider loss in the fourth quarter of 2019 due to higher costs and expenses despite a 53% jump in the top line. The bottom line came in-line with the analysts’ expectations while the top line missed consensus estimates.

Net loss was $18.3 million for the December quarter, wider than a loss of $16.9 million in the previous year quarter. Adjusted loss per share narrowed to $0.06 from $0.07 a year ago. Revenue soared by 53% to $91.66 million. Analysts had expected a loss of $0.06 per share on revenue of $92.99 million for the fourth quarter.

The fourth quarter has been marked as a record one in gross billings, which is largest in the company’s history, by over 50% to $94.5 million. The company deployed over 2,400 fuel cell units in the quarter. Also, the company executed a publicly marketed follow-on equity offering raising total gross proceeds of $126.5 million.

Looking ahead, the management sets the guidance to achieve $300 million in gross billings in 2020. This is more than 25% gross billings growth year-over-year. The company remains on track to deliver its 2024 targets as it continues to build the hydrogen economy.

The company already has a pipeline that provides over 90% visibility to the deployment target for 2020. This is reflective of an increase in multi-site orders from pedestal customers and growing adoption rates in existing and expansion markets due to confidence in the solution’s value proposition.

Plug Power rolled out its five-year plan targeting the delivery of $1 billion of annual gross billings, $170 million of operating income, and $200 million of adjusted EBITDA by 2024. The major strategic partnerships throughout the year have set the stage for 2020 and enable the company to achieve 2024 targets.

Read: SolarEdge Technologies Q4 earnings

The company has deployed more than 32,000 fuel cell units that have been operating more than 300 million hours, an equivalent of over 1 billion on-road miles. In total, Plug Power has built and operates over 90 hydrogen fueling stations with a pipeline to deliver more than 35 additional stations in 2020.

Based on its 5-year targets, the company expects demand for fueling stations to grow more than 6 times and the amount of hydrogen needed to be more than 4 times over the present. The company expects to use more than 80 tons of hydrogen a day by 2024 and expects over 50% of that to be green hydrogen.

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