Plug Power shares fell 8.63% to $2.52 after the company reported second-quarter results on Thursday. The fuel cell maker posted revenue of $24 million during the quarter, missing the Wall Street consensus estimate of $25.9 million. Net loss came in at $9.9 million or 6 cents per share, slightly better than analysts’ projection of 7 cents per share in Q2 losses.
Plug Power shows improvement in gross margins
The Latham, New York-based company ended the June quarter with $109.1 million in cash and cash equivalents, and $135.8 million in net working capital. Plug Power said its gross margins improved from 1% in Q2, 2014 to 7% in the latest quarter. Meanwhile, margins on GenDrive jumped from 17% to 26% YoY. The company recorded bookings of $59 million during the quarter, while reiterating its full-year bookings target of $200 million.
Of its total Q2 revenue, $15.3 million came in the form of product revenue, $8.4 million of services revenue, and $0.3 million of R&D contract revenue. Plug Power had reported a revenue of $17.3 million in the same quarter last year. As previously reported, Plug Power shipped 888 units of GenDrive during the quarter, but recognized revenue for 892 units. The company recorded three hydrogen installation sales in April-June period, compared to just one in the same quarter a year ago.
Plug Power’s administrative costs jump
Total administrative costs almost doubled from $6.8 million in Q2, 2014 to $11.4 million in the latest quarter. Plug Power reiterated its full-year revenue forecast of above $100 million, which includes sales of over 3,300 GenDrive units. Chief executive Andy Marsh said he expects the current-quarter revenue to exceed $30 million.
Late last month, Plug Power agreed to take full control of HyPulson, its European joint venture with Air Liquide. The Latham, New York company would buy the remaining 80% stake in HyPulson that it doesn’t already own for $11.47 million. The deal is expected to close in August. HyPulson already has engineering and sales staff in place. It will allow Plug Power to aggressively expand its business in Europe.
