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.
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.