New York, April 29, 2026, 15:04 EDT
Plug Power Inc. shares jumped about 10% in afternoon trading on Wednesday, lifted by a wider fuel-cell rally and a fresh Wall Street target increase before the hydrogen company reports first-quarter results next month. The stock recently traded at $3.33, up 30 cents, on volume above 105 million shares.
The move matters now because Plug is days away from a May 11 earnings report that will test whether its cost cuts, hydrogen network and electrolyzer orders are starting to show through in margins. The company said Tuesday it would release first-quarter results after the market and hold a call at 4:30 p.m. ET.
Investors are looking for more than revenue growth. Plug spent much of 2025 trying to cut cash burn, raise liquidity and make its fuel and service operations less costly, after years in which demand for clean hydrogen ran ahead of profits.
Clear Street analyst Tim Moore raised his price target on Plug to $3.50 from $3.00 and kept a Buy rating, saying the company still had “continued order wins momentum” and “adequate liquidity” to fund near-term cash burn. Moore forecast March-quarter sales growth of 8% to $144 million and 2026 sales growth of 15% to $817 million, according to StreetInsider. StreetInsider.com
The sector spark came from Bloom Energy. Bloom said first-quarter revenue rose 130.4% to $751.1 million, raised its 2026 revenue outlook to $3.4 billion to $3.8 billion, and Chief Executive KR Sridhar said the company was becoming a “go-to choice” for on-site power as data centers chase electricity supply. Bloom Energy
Plug rose alongside peers, though their businesses are not identical. Bloom Energy shares were up about 23%, FuelCell Energy nearly 28% and Ballard Power Systems about 5%, while Plug’s move was closer to 10%, market data showed.
Plug sells hydrogen fuel-cell systems, electrolyzers and related infrastructure. An electrolyzer is equipment that uses electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen; a fuel cell then turns hydrogen into electricity through a chemical reaction rather than combustion.
The company has tried to show that its order pipeline is still moving. Earlier this month, Plug said it won a front-end engineering design contract — early-stage engineering work before full construction — for a 275-megawatt GenEco PEM electrolyzer system for Hy2gen’s Courant project in Québec, one of its largest electrolyzer awards to date. Chief Executive Jose Luis Crespo said the award showed demand for “complex, high-capacity developments.” GlobeNewswire
That is the bull case in plain terms: more industrial orders, lower unit costs and enough cash to bridge the gap until the business stops burning money. Plug said in March that it was targeting positive EBITDAS in the fourth quarter of 2026, positive operating income by the end of 2027 and full profitability by the end of 2028.
But the risk is still cash. Plug used $535.8 million in operating cash in 2025, down from $728.6 million in 2024, and ended the year with $368.5 million in unrestricted cash. The company said planned asset-sale proceeds tied to data-center infrastructure should help fund operations through 2026, but delays or weaker margins would make that math harder.
There is also dilution risk. A February filing showed shareholders approved an increase in Plug’s authorized common shares to 3 billion from 1.5 billion, giving the company more financing flexibility but also raising the possibility that future capital needs could weigh on existing holders.
For now, the stock is trading on a cleaner story than it had a year ago: a near-term earnings date, a supportive analyst note, and a peer-driven rally tied to power demand. The harder question comes May 11, when Plug has to show whether the story is turning into numbers.
