Nel ASA: A CEO Search and a 70 Million Kronen Legal Charge Deepen the Divide Between Orders and Revenue

Nel ASA's order intake triples but revenue falls 12%, EBITDA loss doubles, and CEO resigns. Stock down 46% from 52-week high amid cash burn concerns.

The story at Nel ASA is one of two competing narratives. On one side, the Norwegian hydrogen company’s order intake has exploded, more than tripling year-over-year in the second quarter. On the other, its bottom line is bleeding red ink at an accelerating pace, and a leadership vacuum is adding to the uncertainty. For investors, the question is whether the operational momentum can eventually overpower the financial headwinds.

The stock closed at €0.1968 on Friday, down 2.09% on the day, though it managed a weekly gain of 2.18%. That modest recovery does little to mask a broader erosion: the share price has fallen 7.17% over the past 30 days and now sits 46% below its 52-week high. The 200-day moving average of €0.2147 is a full 8.34% above the current level, a classic technical signal of a prolonged downtrend. With a relative strength index of 36.5, selling pressure remains elevated without yet tipping into oversold territory.

Orders Surge, But Revenue and Earnings Go the Other Way

The headline figure from Nel’s second-quarter report is undeniably eye-catching. Order intake jumped to 230 million Norwegian kroner, up from just 71 million in the same period last year — a 224% increase. The PEM electrolyser business, in particular, drove the surge, suggesting that demand for the company’s core technology remains robust.

Yet the revenue line tells a very different story. Sales from customer contracts fell to 153 million kroner, a 12% decline from 174 million a year earlier. The gap between orders and revenue realization is widening, as many customers postpone hydrogen projects amid an uncertain macroeconomic environment. That delay is a critical bottleneck: until those orders convert into recognized revenue, they remain a promise rather than a profit.

The earnings picture is even starker. EBITDA swung to a loss of 155 million kroner, nearly doubling the 86 million kroner loss in the prior-year quarter. A one-time charge of 70 million kroner from a settlement agreement with Iwatani Corporation of America added to the pain, inflating the operating loss beyond what the underlying business alone would have produced.

A CEO Vacancy and a Shrinking Cash Cushion

Complicating matters further, CEO Håkon Volldal announced his resignation in June after four years at the helm. He has agreed to stay on for up to six months while the board searches for a successor, but the leadership gap is an unwelcome distraction for a company already grappling with weak earnings momentum. Investors are watching closely to see whether the next chief executive can translate technological progress into sustainable financial results.

Nel’s balance sheet still provides some breathing room. Cash and cash equivalents stood at 1.328 billion kroner at the end of the second quarter, down from 1.928 billion a year earlier. The order backlog of 1.213 billion kroner offers additional visibility into future revenue, but the cash burn rate is accelerating, and the cushion is shrinking.

Institutional Investors Stay on the Sidelines

With a market capitalization of roughly 372 million euros, Nel falls below the threshold that many institutional funds and family offices require for consideration. The stock is therefore traded predominantly by retail and short-term oriented investors, a factor that helps explain the sharp daily swings. The annualized 30-day volatility of nearly 42% underscores just how sensitive hydrogen stocks are to interest rate expectations and global economic signals.

The next major catalyst comes on October 21, 2026, when Nel reports its third-quarter results. That report will reveal whether the order boom is finally beginning to flow through to the revenue line — or whether the chasm between bookings and billings is widening further. Until then, the stock remains caught between a promising pipeline and a punishing profit picture, with a CEO search adding yet another layer of uncertainty.