DANBURY, Connecticut, April 30, 2026, 09:02 EDT
FuelCell Energy, Inc. was headed into Thursday’s session trading just below a one-year high, the stock coming off a 37% rally in the previous day. Investors zeroed in on fuel-cell makers seen as beneficiaries of rising AI data center demand. FCEL traded at $13.64 premarket. Shares of Bloom Energy and Plug Power were also quoted up.
What’s changed: AI data centers aren’t just scrambling for chips, land, or fiber anymore. Reliable power has joined the list, and locking down major grid hookups can be a slow process. That’s where fuel cells come in—delivering electricity on site via electrochemical reactions instead of combustion. Providers are pushing them as a quicker solution for powering these facilities.
Bloom Energy made the first move. The fuel-cell competitor posted first-quarter revenue of $751.1 million, a jump of 130.4% year over year, and bumped up its 2026 revenue-growth target midpoint to about 80% from roughly 60%. “Go-to choice” for on-site power, is how Chief Executive KR Sridhar described Bloom. Business Wire
Oracle just tightened the focus this week. The company and BorderPlex Digital Assets announced that Project Jupiter, their AI data center campus in Doña Ana County, New Mexico, plans to run entirely on Bloom fuel cells. Under their broader agreement, Bloom could provide as much as 2.45 gigawatts of installed capacity at the site.
FuelCell is giving investors an argument to group it with the bigger players, though its order book doesn’t match Bloom’s volume. Back in March, the Danbury firm rolled out a 12.5-megawatt standardized power block designed for data centers, announced intentions to eventually more than triple manufacturing at its Torrington, Connecticut plant, and logged a 275% jump in its business-development pipeline since February 2025—thanks mostly to data-center demand.
FuelCell CEO Jason Few pointed to speed as the main concern for data-center clients, noting that with AI pushing grid capacity, customers just want to know “how quickly they can get it.” Eric Strayer, senior vice president and global sales chief, echoed that message, saying buyers are looking for “fast, phased deployment.” FuelCell Energy
The numbers tell a mixed story. FuelCell’s revenue for the January quarter landed at $30.5 million, a 61% jump over last year. Still, the company recorded a gross loss of $5.9 million and a net loss of $26.1 million. Its backlog slipped to $1.17 billion, off 10.8%.
But there’s not much of a safety net here. MarketBeat shows FuelCell carries a consensus “Reduce” rating: seven analysts say Hold, two are at Sell, and the average price target sits at $8.24. That leaves the stock vulnerable—if those data-center projects don’t materialize as contracts, or if bigger players snap up most of the business, the rally could unwind fast. MarketBeat
FuelCell’s cash position sits at $379.6 million as of Jan. 31, but a chunk of that came from issuing new shares. The company disclosed it raised roughly $54.9 million in net proceeds last quarter by selling about 6.4 million shares through its open-market agreement.
Right now, traders are paying for potential—FuelCell offers a smaller, more volatile bet on AI-driven power shortages. The coming hurdle is straightforward. The company needs to lock in actual orders from its pipeline, rein in manufacturing expenses, and prove losses are shrinking, not simply ride the buzz around the sector.
