ITM Power: Insiders Step Up Buying as Group Expands Sheffield Workforce

Shares of the British electrolyser maker have reversed sharply after doubling, but insider purchases and operational wins like a £40M investment and Cromarty project signal management confidence.

The market’s honeymoon with ITM Power looks to be over. After a blistering start to the year that saw the shares more than double, the stock has reversed course sharply, closing at €1.41 — down 3% on the day and shedding roughly 22% over the past 30 days. The year-to-date gain still stands at 95%, but the 200-day moving average at €1.02 is now the only serious floor beneath the slide.

Yet management is sending a very different signal. On 17 June, the British electrolyser maker disclosed a series of insider purchases under its Director/PDMR Shareholding programme. Executives used a buy-as-you-earn plan to increase their stakes, committing their own cash rather than relying on mandatory allocations. At a time when the stock is trading 44% below its 52-week high of €2.58 — set on 29 May — the buying looks like a deliberate vote of confidence.

That confidence rests on a growing pile of operational wins. In April, ITM Power secured a £40 million equity investment from Great British Energy, topped up with a £46.5 million grant from the Department for Energy Security. Management promptly lifted the full-year revenue target for 2026 to a range of £40 million to £43 million. Early June brought a strategic partnership with Protium Green Solutions to co-develop industrial green hydrogen plants in the UK, anchored by the Cromarty project in the Scottish Highlands — a 15-megawatt electrolyser capable of producing roughly seven tonnes of green hydrogen a day.

Alongside these project-level milestones, the company is quietly building out its manufacturing backbone. ITM Power is currently recruiting for eight open roles in Sheffield, including a process engineer tasked with scaling up production of catalyst-coated membranes — the core component in its electrolysers. The hiring spree also covers IT support and sales, suggesting a deliberate push to stabilise and improve manufacturing processes rather than a response to any single client order. The aim is to cut defect rates and lift margins, though concrete results have yet to show in the share price.

Technically, the stock is hovering near oversold territory. The relative strength index sits at 40 — not flashing a buy signal, but close. The 50-day moving average at €1.70 remains a stubborn ceiling, and the gap to the 200-day line at €1.02 is wide enough to invite further re-testing. The insider buying offers a floor of sorts, but the market wants proof. The new engineers in Sheffield, the Cromarty electrolyser, and the state backing all need to translate into tighter execution and better numbers. Until they do, the stock will remain caught between management’s conviction and the chart’s gravity.