Plug Power Stock Jumps After Q1 Revenue Beat: Why the Hydrogen Turnaround Still Has a Cash Problem

12 May 2026

SLINGERLANDS, New York, May 12, 2026, 04:27 EDT

Plug Power Inc. shares extended a sharp rally before Tuesday’s open after the hydrogen-equipment company posted first-quarter revenue above Wall Street forecasts and narrowed its operating loss. The stock rose 12.8% in regular trading Monday and was up 6.3% in premarket dealings Tuesday, while short interest stood at about 25% of the freely traded stock, Barron’s reported.

The timing matters. Plug released results after the market closed on May 11 and filed an 8-K with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission the same day; management was also set to face investors on a BTIG-hosted call at noon ET Tuesday, putting its margin and cash claims back under scrutiny within hours.

Revenue rose 22% to $163.5 million from $133.7 million a year earlier, helped by material-handling systems and electrolyzers, equipment used to make hydrogen at a customer site. Gross margin improved to negative 13% from negative 55%, while adjusted per-share loss narrowed to 8 cents from 17 cents, a filing exhibit showed.

The quarter was better at the operating line than at the bottom line. Operating loss narrowed to $109.5 million from $178.5 million, but net loss attributable to Plug widened to $245.3 million from $196.7 million, hit by non-cash changes tied to convertible debt and warrant liabilities.

Chief Executive Jose Luis Crespo called the quarter “another important step forward” toward positive EBITDAS in the fourth quarter. EBITDAS is Plug’s adjusted earnings measure before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization and stock-based expense; it is not the same as profit under standard accounting rules. Investing.com

There was a business case behind the stock move, not just a squeeze. Plug said GenDrive per-unit service costs fell more than 30%, hydrogen fuel sales rose 22%, and its GenEco electrolyzer business had more than 320 megawatts deployed globally with a project pipeline above $8 billion.

The risk is liquidity. Plug used $150.0 million in operating cash in the quarter, up from $105.6 million a year earlier, and had $223.2 million of unrestricted cash plus $183.7 million of current restricted cash at March 31. The 10-Q also said market conditions could hurt access to alternative capital, though Plug said it had enough capital for at least 12 months based on working capital, cash assumptions and available financing tools.

Plug is leaning on asset monetization as well. The company expects about $275 million from hydrogen project asset sales, including a first Stream Data Centers transaction of about $142 million due in June, and a $39.2 million sale of a Louisiana joint-venture investment tax credit targeted by the end of May.

The competitive backdrop has also shifted. Fuel-cell peer Bloom Energy has drawn fresh attention from data-center power demand after Reuters reported in April that it would supply up to 2.8 gigawatts of fuel cells under an expanded Oracle deal; Plug’s quarter was more about warehouses, electrolyzers and hydrogen fuel, but investors are weighing the same question across the group: which clean-power companies can convert demand into margin.

CFO Paul Middleton told analysts Plug expects second-quarter revenue to grow sequentially and said margin rates should keep improving through the year. That is the next test. A revenue beat bought the company time; sustained cash improvement would matter more.

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Khadija Saeed is a financial markets reporter at TS2.tech. Her coverage ranges from stocks and technology to emerging industries and developments across global markets. She studied economics and finance at the London School of Economics and worked in market research before becoming a financial journalist. Follow Khadija Saeed on Google News.

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