Fuel cell product maker Plug Power Inc. (NASDAQ: PLUG) priced an underwritten secondary stock offering of 22.6 million shares at $5.50 Friday morning. The company also granted the underwriters a 30-day option on an additional 3.39 million shares. The shares closed at $6.01 on Thursday, down more than 7% on the day.

This is a classic example of striking while the iron is hot — or at least very warm. Plug Power‘s shares traded at $0.15 last April and rose as high as near $12 in March. The company expects net proceeds of around $116.3 million, which it plans to use for working capital and general corporate purposes.

Demand for the new shares was high. In its original filing, Plug Power said it would sell 15 million shares, so the 22.6 million shares sold have diluted existing shareholders’ stakes even more. The underwriters’ option was also raised from 2.25 million shares to 3.39 million.

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Plug Power’s meteoric rise began following an announcement of a deal with Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) for more than 1,700 of Plug Power’s fuel cell-powered forklifts. The company got a nasty review in mid-March from Citron Research calling it a “casino stock” and placing a value of $0.50 on the shares. That pushed the stock down to a level of around $6 a share.

As we pointed out in our preview of this offering, Plug Power gains some respect with this offering because it is being underwritten by Morgan Stanley, Barclays, Cowen and FBR.

Shares opened at $5.62 Friday, down 6.5% from Thursday’s $6.01 close. The 52-week range on the stock is $0.15 to $11.72.

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