PLUG) stock has ridden a massive wave of investor enthusiasm. Shares in the forklift fuel cell maker have rocketed 286% this year as retail investors ogled over its 32% topline growth. As the coronavirus pandemic has kicked warehouse fulfillment centers into high gear, Plug Power has gone from a struggling company to an investor darling with a $5 billion market capitalization.” data-reactid=”12″>Plug Power (NASDAQ:PLUG) stock has ridden a massive wave of investor enthusiasm. Shares in the forklift fuel cell maker have rocketed 286% this year as retail investors ogled over its 32% topline growth. As the coronavirus pandemic has kicked warehouse fulfillment centers into high gear, Plug Power has gone from a struggling company to an investor darling with a $5 billion market capitalization.
Source: Halfpoint/ShutterStock.com
WMT) and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) hide a stingingly dreadful set of financials. Once you account for the company’s leasing interest, gross margins come in at negative 1.4%. Its sale practices point to desperation.” data-reactid=”30″>The company’s promising deals with Walmart (NYSE:WMT) and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) hide a stingingly dreadful set of financials. Once you account for the company’s leasing interest, gross margins come in at negative 1.4%. Its sale practices point to desperation.
InvestorPlace – Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips” data-reactid=”31″>InvestorPlace – Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips
In other words, no matter how large the company grows, it will keep losing money unless something big changes. So, before you even consider buying PLUG stock, here’s why insiders are selling out of this seemingly promising company.
Promising Technology Hides an Ugly Truth
In all reality, I’m a fan of hydrogen fuel cell technology. And Plug Power is one of the most prominent players.
TSLA) and other electric vehicles. It only takes three to five minutes to refuel a hydrogen fuel cell, compared to 30 minutes or more to recharge a battery.” data-reactid=”35″>Hydrogen fuel cell technology provides far faster recharges than lithium-ion batteries, currently used in Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) and other electric vehicles. It only takes three to five minutes to refuel a hydrogen fuel cell, compared to 30 minutes or more to recharge a battery.
That makes hydrogen fuel cells extremely useful in industrial settings that need 24/7 usage. Fast recharges mean that forklifts and heavy truck operators don’t have to idle their machinery for long.
well-to-wheel efficiency of 70% to 90%. That means hydrogen fuel cells will remain a niche industrial product for now. But with 23 million industrial vehicles still relying on natural gas, there’s plenty of room for Plug Power to grow.
But here’s where the good news ends.
PLUG Stock: A House of Cards
Plug Power has continuously struggled to turn a profit. More accurately, Plug Power has struggled to SELL its products at all.
35,000 units across 2,800 systems. The terms weren’t that good either. To make its $70 million deal with Amazon in 2017, the company had to offer 19% of its shares as warrants to the e-commerce giant. Its $80 million Walmart sale went for 17% of its shares.
That screams desperation. A great product that saves customers thousands of dollars should fly off the shelves.
delivery between 2021 and 2024. Those are the deals that say, “I have a great product.”
But what about Plug Power?
Here’s a Deal…
Here’s how it goes. If Walmart and Amazon won’t pay for hydrogen fuel cells today, why not let them make payments over time? A sale gets made, and Plug still gets to record revenue (even if it’s drawn out over several years). On its face, that sounds like a genius solution: everyone wins in the long run.
But there’s a significant problem. How can Plug afford to build all its kit today without receiving payment for years? That’s where debt financing comes in.
To run its leasing operation, Plug had to take out loans. And a lot of them. In Q2, the company had $653 million of outstanding debt and capital leases.
12% interest on its loans.
Operating Leases Won’t Save Plug Power
ASC Topic 842, means the company lumps cash sales and operating leases together.
But the numbers on PLUG’s balance sheet don’t lie (or at least we hope they don’t, or else the company has an entirely different problem). When Plug creates an operating lease, its lenders require some form of collateral. Many leasing companies naturally use the underlying product (in Plug’s case, their hydrogen fuel cells). But the company also needs to set aside cash, known as “restricted cash,” on its balance sheet as additional collateral.
The financing deals have created a nightmare for Plug Power’s liquidity. The company’s restricted cash jumped by $158 million in 2019, while repayments of finance obligations topped $61.7 million. And how much did Plug generate in sales? Just $150 million from fuel cell systems and hydrogen installations.
Many Unhappy Returns
PLUG stock bulls will point out that collateral will eventually decline as operating leases mature. And that’s also true: without future growth, the company’s balance sheet will ultimately return to normal.
But its collateral agreements increase both invested capital and interest payments without generating additional profit. That pushes return on invested capital (ROIC) down. And any Finance 101 course will tell you that a low ROIC reduces a stock’s fair value.
negative 9.4%, which have sell-side analysts forecasting a negative 5% downside to the stock.
Angel Investors Swoop In
The company, however, ran into some luck this year. As investor interest in electric vehicles and clean energy grew, so did Plug’s ability to convert its debt into equity. In 2019, the company raised $158 million from stock sales. And in 2020, the company raised another $205 million in a convertible senior note sale.
cost of equity of just 8.66%.
That doesn’t change the underlying problem (i.e., Plug still relies on operating leases to push its product out the door). But it does mean the company won’t go bankrupt if they can keep selling more shares.
Insiders Are Getting Out
Insiders, however, aren’t taking that bet. Because as soon as (or if) PLUG stock collapses, the company would find itself back at the mercy of its creditors.
as quickly as he’s awarded them. Other officers, including its corporate controller, general counsel, and chief strategy officer, hold either zero shares or so few shares that the number looks like a rounding error.
Clearly, insiders think there’s something wrong.
Can PLUG Stock Make it?
lithium-ion technology continually improving, Plug is fighting an uphill battle to acquire new clients. If the company needs to work this hard to get customers, doesn’t it feel like there’s something wrong?
More From InvestorPlace
Why Plug Power Is Sinking to Zero While a Rising Tide Lifts Other Boats appeared first on InvestorPlace.” data-reactid=”83″>The post Why Plug Power Is Sinking to Zero While a Rising Tide Lifts Other Boats appeared first on InvestorPlace.
