Plug Power shares surged in premarket trading this morning after the company announced that it had secured another major new customer. The stock started falling after the markets opened, although it was still up by 3.88% at $2.68 per share just minutes before market close.
Plug Power receives a new order
In a press release today, Plug Power announced that it had signed a “big box retailer” as a new customer. The hydrogen fuel cell system manufacturer did not say which big box retailer it had signed. It simply stated that the new customer will be running the material handling fleet at its new distribution warehouse in the Toledo, Ohio area on Plug Power’s GenKey hydrogen fuel cell system.
Plug Power deployed 177 GenDrive units to the customer’s facility. The units will power some class-2 and class-3 lift and reach trucks. The company also installed a GenFuel hydrogen fuel supply and storage infrastructure and sold the customer a GenCare maintenance contract. According to today’s press release, this was the first site where Plug Power’s outdoor skid was deployed. The skid is the newest enhancement to its GenFuel system.
The company also said that the new customer has over 100 distribution centers located throughout North America. It’s also talking with the new customer about possibly deploying its hydrogen fuel cell systems at the other facilities.
Plug Power stock remains volatile
Today’s share price increase is pretty standard for Plug Power, as the stock typically rises whenever the company announces that it has secured another new customer. The company has also sold systems to Home Depot, Wal-Mart, Kroger and several other big customers.
Earlier this month, the fuel cell system manufacturer missed expectations for revenues, but analysts at Cowen weren’t concerned. The reason was because Plug Power delayed the recognition of some of its revenue because it was taking longer than expected to deploy its infrastructure at its customers’ sites. Plug Power said it would recognize that revenue in the next quarter.
Plug Power has scheduled its annual shareholder meeting for Thursday, so we should hear some more business updates from the company later this week.
