Summary: Today we’re going to take you on a short journey through the operations of a global leader in the design, manufacturing, and service provision of a complete line of energy efficient, fuel cell power plants. If you have never heard of such a thing before, you’re in for a treat. Let’s go. Some History/Background FuelCell Energy (NASDAQ: FCEL) was founded all the way back in 1969 and over time (a long time, as the company did not become publicly until 1992) it has developed and refined a full-line of SureSource power plants based on carbonate fuel cell technology, more commonly known as Hydrogen Power. While hydrogen power is nothing new, as the basis for the technology (hydrogen fuel cells) have been known since the 1800’s. However, high-temperature carbonate fuel cells are widely recognized as the cleanest and most efficient power generation option for both commercial and industrial customers. With more and more countries, jurisdictions, and businesses looking to reduce their carbon footprints and jump on the ESG (environmental, social and governance) investing bandwagon, the future has never been more promising for FuelCell and its clean distributed power source. A Business Overview of FuelCell Since SureSource power plants are directly sold to commercial customers, utilities, and governments so you aren’t likely to hear about FuelCell Energy like you would a consumer product or service company, such as Tesla or McDonald’s, despite its 50 plus year history. However, its overall impact on our lives could be similar or even greater. This is why we are telling you about FuelCell today. The company has produced well over 10 million-megawatt hours of clean electricity since commercializing its first product 17 years ago. The one big question every investor should be asking is: can hydrogen cells produce enough power to meet the needs of large scale business applications and entire power grids? Let’s see how far along in this process FuelCell is. Quick & Dirty Financials At a Glance - Revenue for fiscal year 2020 (ended on Oct. 31) was US$71m. With first quarter 2021 top line revenue coming in at US$14.9m compared to US$16.3m a year ago, so just slightly below last year’s pace. - The loss from operations was $14.4m compared to $3.1m - Cash flow from operations, which is generally a better measure of profitability than Income from Operations, was also in the red. - Given that FuelCell is not a startup (far from it) it would have been nice to see more progress i.e. greater profitability rather than a revert back to the red, but here are a few notable things which FuelCell is working on to reverse this trend and get back into the black. News/What’s Next - FuelCell entered into a power purchase agreement for a 2.8 megawatt (“MW”) project in Derby, Connecticut with United Illuminating in February. - The company continued to make progress on projects, including nearing completion on new power platforms at the U.S. Navy Base in Groton, Connecticut and at their wastewater treatment facility in San Bernardino, California. - The company’s President & CEO Jason Few stated that “recent weather events in Texas along with electric grid reliability challenges experienced in other locations such as California, Greece, the UK, and around the world, highlight the benefits and capabilities of our platform”. Overall, if you can look past the near-term unprofitability to look at the long-term potential of the company’s projects and their implications on our energy future, it may be worth placing a bet on. For more information, visit their website, https://www.fuelcellenergy.com Thank you for watching Green Stock News. Please leave a like and subscribe to our YouTube channel for more financial news. - Green Stock News is a 21st-century broadcast media company that enhances corporate access for public companies through the distribution of news, interviews, and original content across the web and through social media....
