Plug Power's Forklift Business Is Booming — But the Balance Sheet Keeps Calling the Shots

Plug Power beats Q2 estimates with 125% fuel cell shipment growth and rising service revenue, but asset sales and DOE loan uncertainty keep the stock under pressure.

The hydrogen specialist's second-quarter scorecard painted a picture of a company finally gaining traction where it matters most: the warehouse floor. Shipments of GenDrive fuel cell units jumped 125 percent year over year to 1,666 in Q2, and two of the largest customers in the material handling segment are now weighing the replacement of more than 20,000 units over the next three years — a pipeline that would hand Plug Power a multi-year revenue stream from its installed base rather than forcing it to chase new logos.

That installed base is becoming increasingly lucrative in its own right. Service revenue climbed 82 percent to $30 million at a 27 percent margin, while fuel sales advanced roughly 15 percent to $39 million. For a company long criticized for bleeding cash in its core operations, the combination of rising unit volumes and high-margin recurring revenue suggests the turnaround effort rests on more than just cost-cutting.

The headline numbers support that read. Revenue of $178.3 million beat the consensus estimate of $168.76 million, and the per-share loss of $0.07 came in narrower than the $0.08 analysts had penciled in. Gross margin, meanwhile, crept toward breakeven after sitting at minus 31 percent in the year-ago quarter and minus 13 percent in Q1. Management lifted its full-year revenue growth guidance to 15–16 percent from a prior 13–15 percent range and reaffirmed its goal of reaching positive EBITDAS in the fourth quarter.

Yet the market has shrugged. The stock trades at €1.78, down 4.4 percent on the day, and has shed roughly 4.2 percent since the earnings release — extending a seven-day slide of 8.2 percent. At 56 percent below its 52-week high of €4.04 from early October, the equity is pricing in a very different story than the one the income statement tells.

That divergence comes down to one persistent overhang: liquidity. The company has been methodically selling off assets to shore up its balance sheet, pulling in roughly $47 million in July and August from the release of escrowed funds and the sale of individual energy assets — bringing the cumulative haul from that program to about $52 million. Combined with agreements with Stream US Data Centers expected to deliver more than $80 million in near-term liquidity, Plug Power is chasing a total of over $275 million from asset monetization.

The urgency of that cash hunt was underscored by the decision to scrap its 100-megawatt hydrogen project at the Port of Antwerp, writing off €13.6 million in related assets. The electrolyzer plant, designed to supply green hydrogen to the Belgian market, is now history — a retreat the company attributes to the project's economic viability and ongoing financial challenges. It's a pattern that has become familiar: Plug Power is growing where it can and shrinking where it must.

The situation around the U.S. Department of Energy's $1.66 billion loan guarantee adds another layer of uncertainty. Plug Power itself suspended activities tied to the guarantee, acknowledging that the move carries the risk of losing access to the financing entirely. This was a company-driven decision with an open outcome — not a withdrawal imposed by the agency — and that ambiguity arguably weighs on the stock more than any single project cancellation.

There are bright spots on the international front. The company continues to advance electrolyzer projects abroad, including the supply of GenEco PEM electrolyzers to the Hunter Valley Hydrogen Hub in Australia, which has reached its final investment decision and is expected to produce around 4,700 tonnes of renewable hydrogen annually at full operation. In Denmark, a 5-megawatt system in Esbjerg has been completed and commissioned.

Still, the warnings persist: significant cash burn, weak order intake, and potential delays in monetizing project assets in New York could force the company to raise additional capital during 2026. The stock's 30-day annualized volatility of 58 percent — and its position 50 percent above the 52-week low of €1.20 from September — captures the market's whipsawing between hope for operational progress and fear of balance-sheet deterioration.

The next test comes with third-quarter results, with analysts on average expecting a loss of $0.07 per share versus $0.12 a year earlier — an improvement of 41.67 percent. Whether that operational momentum can finally translate into share price gains remains the open question, but with each positive development seemingly shadowed by another write-down or funding concern, the market's skepticism is unlikely to lift until the financing picture clears.