Bloom Energy Stock Plummets: What’s Behind the Sudden Crash?

Fuel cell darling Bloom Energy faces brutal market reckoning as shares nosedive.

Technical Breakdown

The energy tech specialist's valuation evaporated faster than hydrogen in open air. Analysts point to perfect storm of sector rotation and execution concerns hitting clean energy plays.

Market Reality Check

Wall Street's patience wears thin with cash-burning alt-energy models. Another 'future of energy' play discovers present-day profitability matters more than visionary PowerPoint decks.

Bottom Line

Until Bloom demonstrates path to sustainable margins, traders treat this crash as feature-not-bug of speculative tech investing.

Image source: Getty Images.

What BofA said about Bloom Energy

BofA raised its price target on Bloom Energy stock to $24 today, as The Fly reports. That sounds like it should be good news -- except for the fact that Bloom already sells for more than $76 per share.

Thus, while BofA is marginally less pessimistic about the shares today than it once was, the investment banker is still effectively predicting Bloom stock will fall 70% in price over the next year.

Unsurprisingly given this forecast, BofA thinks you should sell Bloom Energy stock.

Is Bloom Energy stock a sell?

Bloom stock rocketed this year -- up 650% in 12 months -- on the back of news that companies likeandare using its fuel cells to help provide necessary electric power for artificial intelligence (AI) data centers.

That's the good news.

The bad news is that despite announcing these contract wins, Bloom hasn't raised its guidance for earnings this year, suggesting the contracts may not be profitable for Bloom. Total earnings for the last 12 months at Bloom remain less than $24 million, meaning that, at a market capitalization of $20.2 billion, Bloom stock sells for an astounding 852 times earnings.

That's a very expensive valuation for a company that is still expected to lose money this year and that, even if it turns profitable next year as expected, will be selling for a forward P/E ratio well in the triple digits.

I agree with BofA. This stock's probably a sell.