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Plug Power Inc. (PLUG)

Industrials Out of favour

Plug Power is an American company building the infrastructure for a hydrogen-based economy, focusing on fuel cells for forklifts and heavy-duty transport.

$2.06

Is Plug Power Inc. a good stock for a UK beginner?

The honest version: Plug Power is an American company building the infrastructure for a hydrogen-based economy, focusing on fuel cells for forklifts and heavy-duty transport.

No rating · no target price · nothing for sale here
Price-11.2%
Priced in USD - as a UK investor your £ return also moves with the pound-to-dollar exchange rate, on top of the share price itself.
52-week range+13% past year
$2.06
Low $1.39High $4.58
Where today's price sits versus its past year - context, not a signal.
If you had put $1,000 into Plug Power Inc.
$888-11%

Over about 2 years to 2026-07-31. This is the share price only; any dividends would add to it. And it's the USD return - as a UK investor your actual £ return also moves with the exchange rate. Past performance is not a guide to the future, and it could just as easily have fallen.

Market cap: The company's total value on the stock market - share price times the number of shares. Big = 'large-cap', small = 'small-cap'.
$2.87B
Avg volume: How many shares change hands on a typical day. Higher means it's easy to buy or exit without moving the price.
65.41M
Day range: The lowest and highest price the shares traded at during the latest day.
$2.01 – $2.16
52-week range: The lowest and highest the shares have traded over the past year - a sense of how wide the swings have been.
$1.39 – $4.58
Dividend yield: The yearly dividend as a percentage of the share price - roughly the income you'd earn from dividends alone.
0.0%
Beta: How bumpy the share price is versus the whole market. Above 1 swings more than the market; below 1 is calmer. It's about the ride, not whether it goes up or down.
2.17
How bumpy is it?Beta: How bumpy the share price is versus the whole market. Above 1 swings more than the market; below 1 is calmer. It's about the ride, not whether it goes up or down. 2.17
Calm
Wild
Bumpier than the market

Based on beta - how much the price swings versus the whole market. Bumpier isn't bad; it just means a rougher ride, which matters more the sooner you might need the money.

Why has it been moving?▼ -3% past week · ▲ +13% past year

Prices move on results, news and the mood of the whole market - no single headline explains a day, and a quiet week is usually just noise, not a signal.

The bull case

Hydrogen becomes a dominant fuel for heavy transport

The bear case

Technological obsolescence or bankruptcy

What does Plug Power Inc. do?

Plug Power creates hydrogen fuel cell systems that replace traditional batteries in industrial equipment like warehouse forklifts. Selling these fuel cells and the hydrogen fuel needed to run them brings in revenue, but they are currently spending much more than they earn to grow the business. Profitability is the milestone to watch for as they scale up their hydrogen production facilities.

VQGMI
Factor profile

On our factor screen it looks strongest on growth and value, and weakest on quality.

Value: How cheap the stock looks versus profits, sales and assets (higher = cheaper). 72Quality: How profitable and financially healthy the company is (higher = stronger). 7Growth: How fast revenue and earnings are growing (higher = faster). 78Momentum: How the share price has been trending recently (higher = stronger recent run). 25Income: The dividend income on offer and how sustainable it looks (higher = more/steadier). 16
Quick checks
What's strong
  • Value screens high (72/100)
  • Growth screens high (78/100)
  • First-mover advantage in the hydrogen fuel cell market
  • Strong revenue growth figures
  • Essential role in the transition to green energy
What to watch
  • Quality screens low (7/100)
  • Momentum screens low (25/100)
  • Income screens low (16/100)
  • Potential need to issue more shares, which dilutes existing owners
  • High volatility makes it a bumpy ride for investors

What do Plug Power Inc.'s numbers mean?

Forward P/E
-13.8
This negative number shows the company is currently losing money rather than making a profit per share.
P/S
4.2
This compares the company's total market value to its annual sales, showing how much investors are paying for every pound of revenue generated.
Gross Margin
-31.2%
This indicates that for every pound of product sold, the company is currently spending more than a pound just to make it, before even considering other business costs.
Beta
2.2
A beta above 1.0 means the share price tends to swing much more wildly than the wider stock market.

How much money does Plug Power Inc. make?

Revenue and profit by quarter, and how much of each sale turns into profit.

RevenueNet income
$0$56.30M$112.61M$168.91M$225.22MQ1 25Q2 25Q3 25Q4 25Q1 26
Gross margin
-31.2%
Net margin
-227.1%
Return on equity
-128.8%

Does Plug Power Inc. pay a dividend?

No - Plug Power Inc. doesn't currently pay a dividend, so the whole return would rest on the share price. Plenty of growing companies reinvest their profits instead of paying them out - neither approach is better or worse, they're just different.

When does Plug Power Inc. report earnings, and how did recent quarters go?

Plug Power Inc. is next scheduled to report on about 2026-08-10 - dates can move, and we don't predict results; this just tells you when to look.

Each quarter a company reports its results against what analysts expected. ‘Beating’ or ‘missing’ is about that expectation, not whether the business is doing well in absolute terms.

ReportedExpected EPS: The earnings per share analysts expected for the quarter - the average of their forecasts. 'Beating' or 'missing' is measured against this number.Actual EPSvs expected
2026-05-11$-0.10$-0.18Missed -74%
2026-03-02$-0.11$-0.06Beat +44%
2025-11-10$-0.13$-0.12Beat +7%
2025-08-11$-0.16$-0.18Missed -11%
2025-05-12$-0.20$-0.20Missed -2%
2025-03-03$-0.23$-0.50Missed -117%

Across the last 6 quarters here, Plug Power Inc. came in ahead of what analysts expected 2 times. One quarter is noise, not a trend.

See who else reports over the next two weeks →

Reported vs expected earnings per share (EPS) from published results; the expectation is the analyst consensus, not our view. Report dates are estimates that can move.

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What are the scenarios for Plug Power Inc.?

An illustrative range for the year ahead, with the assumption behind each case — not a prediction or a price target.

$4$2$1today · $2▲ Bull · $3• Base · $2▼ Bear · $1in 1 yearILLUSTRATIVE · NOT A PREDICTION OR PRICE TARGET
Bull
+15% to +30%Increased demand for green hydrogen infrastructure
Base
-5% to +5%Steady operational progress without major surprises
Bear
-20% to -40%Continued high cash burn and funding difficulties

What are the pros and cons of Plug Power Inc.?

3bull points
6bear points

How many points the write-up makes each way — a balance check, not a score or verdict.

The bull case3
  • First-mover advantage in the hydrogen fuel cell market
  • Strong revenue growth figures
  • Essential role in the transition to green energy
The catch3
  • Significant and ongoing financial losses
  • Negative profit margins make valuation difficult
  • High reliance on external funding to keep operations running
Key risks3
  • Potential need to issue more shares, which dilutes existing owners
  • High volatility makes it a bumpy ride for investors
  • Competition from cheaper battery technologies
What would flip the thesis

The write-up's own warning lights — if these start happening, the case above changes.

Confidence: low · data: USD · flags: pe, earnings_growth · Charts by TradingView Lightweight Charts™
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Built from public filings & market prices, checked for an education-only tone, and never a price target. How we make these →

This plain-English summary was auto-generated on 2026-08-01 from public data and checked for an education-only, no-advice tone (the figures above carry their own, usually fresher, 'as of' date). It's information, never a recommendation.

Figures as of 2026-08-01. Prices may be delayed and numbers can go stale - always double-check before acting.