Vancouver, May 5, 2026, 12:05 PDT
- Ballard posted a 26% jump in first-quarter revenue to $19.4 million, trimming its loss to 4 cents per share.
- Gross margin swung into positive territory at 14%, lifted by reductions in product costs and trimmed manufacturing overhead.
- Shares jumped roughly 24% in U.S. trading. Still, the company didn’t provide any revenue or profit outlook for 2026.
Nasdaq shares of Ballard Power Systems Inc. jumped roughly 24% Tuesday, as the Canadian fuel-cell company narrowed its quarterly loss, boosted revenue, and reported a positive gross margin—a trio of markers pointing to tighter cost controls. The stock last changed hands at $4.07 at 18:49 GMT, with more than 14.8 million shares traded so far.
Hydrogen companies face ongoing scrutiny over turning pilot work and fleet deals into real revenue streams. Ballard, which supplies PEM fuel cells for sectors ranging from transit to stationary power, is still running at a loss. Still, its first-quarter figures pointed to lower cash burn and a narrower operating deficit.
Ballard posted first-quarter revenue of $19.4 million, rising 26% from the same period last year. Net loss narrowed to $11.4 million, or 4 cents per share—last year’s figure was a loss of $21.0 million, or 7 cents a share. All results are in U.S. dollars, the company noted.
“In Q1, we made continued progress toward positive cash flow,” Ballard president and CEO Marty Neese said in the company’s release. Revenue picked up thanks to more engine shipments, Neese noted, with “disciplined cost management” sending gross margin up to 14%. Ballard
Results were mixed beneath the headline. Bus revenue dropped 46% to $6.8 million. Rail jumped, reaching $5.1 million—though that’s coming off a negligible base. Stationary revenue picked up too, hitting $5.2 million. North America came in strong, more than doubling, but Ballard pointed to weaker sales out of Europe, China, and other markets, according to its management discussion and analysis filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The filing pointed to product cost cuts and trimmed factory overhead—thanks to restructurings in September 2024 and July 2025—as the main drivers behind the stronger gross margin. Operating expenses, excluding specified items, dropped 37% to $15.8 million, pulled down by cuts in research and product development, along with lower sales and marketing outlays.
Ballard’s cash and cash equivalents stood at $516.8 million as of March, slipping from $527.1 million at December’s close. The company reported $7.8 million in cash outflows from operating activities for the quarter—down sharply from $24.4 million in the same period last year.
The company isn’t offering forecasts for 2026 revenue or net income, pointing to the nascent state of the hydrogen fuel-cell market. For this year, revenue should skew toward the back half, the company said. Operating expenses are projected at $65 million to $75 million, with capital expenditures pegged between $5 million and $10 million.
Ballard singled out buses as a major focus, unfazed by the first-quarter decline. The company underscored its March deal with New Flyer, a unit of NFI Group Inc., to supply 500 FCmove-HD+ fuel-cell engines—adding up to 50 megawatts. That’s the largest order New Flyer has placed since joining forces with Ballard; deliveries for North American hydrogen buses kick off in 2026.
Neese pointed to New Flyer’s multi-year order as evidence of “accelerating fleet adoption in North America.” In addition, he noted Ballard is gaining ground with two bus manufacturers in the UK and European Union, both working on hydrogen bus platforms built around its FCmove-SC engine. According to Neese, Ballard engines have now chalked up more than 300 million kilometers in actual fleet service. Ballard
Competitive dynamics are moving. Last week, Bloom Energy posted first-quarter revenue of $751.1 million and bumped up its 2026 outlook, now guiding for $3.4 billion to $3.8 billion, citing stronger demand for on-site power. Oracle and BorderPlex Digital Assets, meanwhile, revealed plans for an AI data-center campus in New Mexico, which could tap up to 2.45 gigawatts of Bloom fuel-cell capacity—a signal that investor focus has shifted, with data centers now drawing more interest in the space than transit fleets.
Still, risks abound. Ballard pointed to a backlog and 12-month order book that lean heavily on just a handful of customers—exposing it to possible cancellations, delays, performance requirements, shifting prices, and expectations around cost cuts. The company also flagged uncertainties tied to demand, hydrogen infrastructure, supplier reliability, policy support, and currency volatility.
