Plug Power and most other fuel cell-related stocks got killed today, with some posting double-digit percentage declines. Plug Power fell as much as 7%, while suppler Ballard Power Systems was off by 8%. FuelCell Energy plunged as much as 15%, and Quantum Fuel Systems slipped 5%. Hydrogenics was also off today, declining 3% during regular trading hours.
Plug Power earnings date scheduled
Today Plug Power announced plans to hold its next business update conference call on Jan. 28. The company reports its earnings before opening bell and has scheduled the earnings call for 10 a.m. Eastern.
Analysts are expecting the fuel cell system manufacturer to report losses of 4 cents per share on $26.67 million in revenue. In the same quarter last year, Plug Power posted losses of 8 cents per share on $8.03 million in revenue.
Plug Power short interest declines
There are mixed signals on Plug Power today, as short interest has declined recently. One month ago, the company saw a significant increase in short interest.
The latest data indicates that, as of Dec. 31, about 33 million shares of Plug Power were sold short. The number of days to cover was about 6.5. This is a reduction of about 2.4 million shares, as about 35.4 million shares were sold short as of Dec. 15. Short interest in Plug Power has been all over the place, with significant movements in either direction in the last several reporting periods, according to data from NASDAQ.
Bearish options bets on Plug Power on the rise
Year to date, Plug Power shares have already slumped by about 28%, and options sales on Plug Power indicate extremely bearish sentiment on the company right now. According to Schaeffer’s Research, the company’s 10-day ISE / CBOE / PHLX put / call volume ratio is 0.88. That’s higher than 99% of all other readings taken in the last year.
Schaeffer’s reports that short-term options on Plug Power are “nearing bottom-of-the-barrel prices.” The company’s SVI is 80%, ranking it in the 11th percentile of all “similar readings” taken in the last year.
