PowerCell Sweden's €7M Maritime Fuel Cell Project Offers Lifeline as Q1 Losses Widen and Revenue Tumbles

PowerCell Sweden surges 45% in 30 days but first-quarter revenues drop 37%, losses widen, as EU maritime project offers long-term promise.

The market has handed PowerCell Sweden a striking 45% gain over the past 30 days, pushing the stock to SEK 26.76 (€2.51), yet the underlying financial picture tells a more cautious story. While the hydrogen specialist pushes ahead with an ambitious EU-backed maritime project and sees short sellers exit their positions, its first-quarter results reveal a company still wrestling with the painful transition from development-stage player to industrial OEM supplier.

Megawatt-scale ambitions on the water

A cornerstone of PowerCell's industrial strategy is the MiNaMi project, funded by the European Union with a total volume of €7 million. PowerCell's share is estimated at around €2.6 million through to the end of 2028. The goal is a PEM fuel cell system built for the megawatt scale, designed specifically for maritime use. The technical requirements are demanding: the system must achieve a lifetime of 80,000 hours to make it viable for long-haul shipping routes. PowerCell already has commercial orders for its Marine System 225 in the market, and the MiNaMi project aligns directly with its push to embed fuel cells not as experiments but as components of large fleet and OEM supply chains.

Operational stumble deepens the deficit

The first quarter of the fiscal year, however, delivered a sharp setback. Net revenue plunged 37% year-on-year to SEK 46.9 million from SEK 74.1 million, while the net loss ballooned by 153% to SEK 39.8 million. Management attributed the drop to delivery delays and postponed orders — precisely the kind of friction that weighs on a company trying to prove it can scale up to serial production. DNB Carnegie has grown more sceptical about PowerCell's target of reaching EBITDA breakeven this year, pointing to the double-digit revenue decline and a slower conversion of the order book into actual sales. As one analyst put it, the pipeline alone is not enough; it needs to flow through the profit and loss statement faster.

Bearish bets unwind as technicals flicker green

On the trading front, the positioning has shifted notably. Public short sellers, including Alcur and Origo Fonder, have closed their bearish positions. This follows a volatile stretch in which the stock rebounded roughly 21% from its recent low over 90 days. Technical signals based on moving averages pointed to a strong buying setup at the start of the week, though the shares remain well below their 52-week high of SEK 38.90 (€4.37). The 12-month consensus price target stands at around SEK 33.00, implying upside of about 23%, but the wide gap between the target and the current price reflects a market that sees recovery potential but demands clean proof.

Meanwhile, PowerCell's annualised 30-day volatility sits at a towering 106.89%, and the relative strength index of 42.7 suggests the stock is neither overbought nor oversold. The price sits above its medium-term moving averages but just under the 200-day line — a configuration that fits a name where sector enthusiasm and profitability concerns are constantly pulling in opposite directions.

Sector tailwinds and a tight timetable

The broader hydrogen and fuel cell industry is also a key driver. Europe's push for energy independence and decarbonisation has lifted interest in efficient power solutions for data centres and industrial applications, creating a demand anchor for companies like PowerCell. Yet many players still straddle the line between pilot projects and mass production, and the market increasingly rewards those who can show real monetisation rather than just technological promise.

CEO Richard Berkling is working to bring costs down over the course of the year and improve working capital financing. Longer-term OEM contracts bring larger volumes but often come with more demanding payment terms. The next major checkpoint comes in July, when PowerCell reports its second-quarter numbers. Investors will be looking for faster deliveries, lower cash burn, and tangible progress on long-term OEM agreements. Without those, the industrial scaling story remains a compelling idea without a completed financing path.