Plug Power Stock Just Jumped 26%. It’s Making Gains With Hydrogen.

Tanks for liquid hydrogen at a Plug Power facility in Woodbine, Ga., in 2024. (Agnes Lopez/Bloomberg)

Key Points

• Plug Power delivered its first 10-megawatt GenEco electrolyzer array to Galp, a Portuguese energy company, causing its stock to rise 12%.
• Galp’s project, Plug’s largest globally, will produce up to 15,000 tons of renewable hydrogen annually.
• Plug Power’s stock has seen significant volatility, with shares up almost 100% over the past six months. About 40% of the stock available for trading has been shorted.

Plug Power stock jumped early Wednesday after the company said it delivered its first 10-megawatt GenEco electrolyzer array to Galp , a Portuguese energy company.

It is a sign of progress for the maker of hydrogen-based energy technologies.

Electrolyzers use electricity and water to make hydrogen, a green fuel that creates no carbon dioxide, the main gas blamed for climate change, when burned or used in a fuel cell. If the electricity used to make hydrogen is generated from renewable sources, no carbon dioxide is generated along the value chain.

Plug stock gained 25.8% on Wednesday, closing at $2.93, while the S&P 500 rose 0.3% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.1%.

Galp’s project, Plug’s largest worldwide, will produce up to 15,000 tons of renewable hydrogen annually, “replacing 20% of the grey hydrogen currently used at [Galp’s] Sines Refinery,” said Plug in a news release. Gray hydrogen is produced from natural gas, and carbon dioxide is released in the process.

“Plug is building the next generation of industrial energy solutions, and our collaboration with Galp shows that large-scale hydrogen is ready today,” said Plug CEO Andy Marsh in a news release. “This system will be a model for what’s possible across Europe’s refining sector and the broader energy industry.”

Hydrogen technology is making progress, but it is still expensive, relative to oil-based fuel. And Plug isn’t profitable yet.

That is a recipe for shareholders to be whipsawed as sentiment changes among investors. Shares have ranged from 69 cents to $3.32 over the past 12 months, but were north of $60 in 2021. Including early trading, Plug stock was up almost 100% over the past six months.

Wall Street projects 2025 sales of about $710 million, up from $629 million in 2024. Analysts project positive operating profit by 2029, when sales are expected to reach $1.9 billion.

Shares are also heavily shorted, with bearish investors borrowing stock and selling it, hoping prices will decline. About 40% of the stock available for trading has been sold short, according to FactSet. That is more than 10 times the average short interest for a stock in the S&P 500.

High short interest can add volatility to any stock.

Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com