Plug Power Inc (PLUG) Rising After Yesterday’s Nosedive

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Plug Power Inc (NASDAQ:PLUG) initially continued Tuesday’s dive in premarket trading this morning before shares turned around, climbing as much as 5% before turning back around again. The stock surged 24% on Monday, closing above $10 a share after little to no news about it was reported. Then Tuesday rolled around and with it, an extremely negative report from Citron Research, which sent shares down more than 40%.

Citron calls Plug Power a “casino stock”

The firm called Plug Power Inc (NASDAQ:PLUG) a “casino stock,” saying that shares could return to 50 cents, which they once traded at. According to Citron, this type of stock is “the lowest form of speculative moonshot” and “can trade twice its outstanding shares in a single day while turning over its entire float on people gambling that they can find a buyer at a higher price.

The firm also found numerous problems, like the fact that Plug Power Inc (NASDAQ:PLUG) has fallen short of its quarterly guidance numerous times. The company will release its next earnings report on Thursday, so we could be seeing some speculative trades around that. In addition, that report will come in at 10 a.m. Eastern, which is extremely odd because companies almost never report earnings during regular trading hours.

Plug Power’s management seems unsure

According to Citron analysts, even Plug Power Inc (NASDAQ:PLUG)’s management seems to lack conviction on whether the company will be able to perform well. In fact, management at one time would not buy into the company’s capital round offering of 15 cents a share.

The company also doesn’t own much of the technology it uses, meaning it buys the fuel cells from Ballard Power Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:BLDP). Citron actually likes Ballard better than Plug Power Inc (NASDAQ:PLUG). Perhaps unsurprisingly, shares of Ballard are up 2% in premarket trading this morning.

And finally, Plug Power Inc (NASDAQ:PLUG)’s main customers have been utilizing the alternative fuels tax credit, which expires in 2016. Needless to say, reliance on those tax credits is a big problem beyond 2016, which means Plug Power’s future doesn’t look too bright, at least for now.

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