Despite a Loss, FuelCell Energy Powers Through Earnings

Energy

Published: December 16, 2014 9:40 am

Last Updated: December 16, 2014 9:45 am

FuelCell Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: FCEL) reported its fourth-quarter results on Monday evening as -$0.02 in earnings per share and $54.41 million in revenue. This was against Thomson Reuters consensus estimates of -$0.02 in earnings per share and $52.87 million in revenue. The fourth quarter from the previous year had -$0.05 in earnings per share and $55.16 in revenue.

Product sales for the fourth quarter totaled $42.4 million, comprised of $35.8 million of power plant revenue and $6.6 million of power plant component sales, site engineering and construction services. The previous year had sales at $36.2 million.

Service and license revenues for the fourth quarter totaled at $6.7 million, compared to $15.4 million for the previous year. The number was higher last year due to $10.2 million of revenue from a revised multiyear service agreement with its Asian partner POSCO Energy.

Total revenue backlog, was $333.9 million as of the end of October 2014, compared to $355.4 million in the previous year. A recently announced 3.4 MW utility contract will add roughly another $31 million to backlog in the first quarter of 2015.

A few other highlights from the earnings report:

A record 70 megawatts of production sold during the year
Utility sale of 3.4 megawatt high-efficiency power plant for gas pipeline application
Six fuel cell modules totaling 8.4 megawatts sold to POSCO Energy to meet Asian demand
Gross margin of 10.9%, reflecting sequential expansion and improving from 9.2% in the third quarter

Chip Bottone, president and CEO, said:

We maintained focus on expanding margins as we continue to pursue cost reductions. We sold 2014 production and are marketing distributed power generation solutions that are more competitive and affordable compared to bids we were submitting just last year, this combined with increasing recognition in the marketplace has led to a high level of activity.

Shares of FuelCell closed down roughly 5% to $1.54. On Tuesday, shares responded positively and were up almost 4% to $1.60 shortly after the opening bell. The stock has a consensus analyst price target of $2.88 and a 52-week trading range of $1.28 to $4.74. The market cap is $434 million.

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