Shares plummet
Company has to restate financial statements
Plug Power took a beating on Wall Street Wednesday, a day after it said it would have to restate its financial statements.
Shares of Plug Power were being battered on Wall Street on Wednesday, a day after the Latham fuel cell maker said it would have to restate its financial statements dating back to 2018.
Plug Power disclosed on March 2 that it would be late filing its year-end 2020 financial statements with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and that it was looking at potentially correcting previous filings due to its increasingly complex business strategy.
Since then, its shares, which had been trading above $51 as of March 1, have suffered from the news — including a 7.85 percent drop Wednesday that brought the company’s shares down to $39.33.
Plug Power CEO Andy Marsh said the accounting issues were on paper only and involved concepts such as whether or not previous research and development expenses were correctly categorized.
Plug Power is one of the fastest growing renewable energy companies in the U.S. It has become one of the world’s biggest makers of hydrogen fuel cells for fork lift trucks but is quickly moving to expand into delivery trucks and airplanes.
Hydrogen fuel cells are typically used in conjunction with electric batteries to power vehicle engines, although some could eventually rely entirely on hydrogen for fuel. Plug Power also sells hydrogen and is building several hydrogen production factories across the country. It also sells hydrogen fueling equipment.
Plug Power said in a news release issued Tuesday that the restatement of its financial filings “will change how the company accounts for certain transactions and items but is not expected to impact the company’s cash position, business operations or economics of commercial arrangements.”
Other accounting issues that will be addressed involve the book value and impairment of certain assets.
“Since our founding nearly 25 years ago, Plug Power has prided itself on operating with transparency and integrity, and we are working to resolve this matter quickly,” Marsh said. “We continue to execute on our mission to provide customers with state-of-the-art fuel cell and green hydrogen solutions.”
Plug Power says it will take additional time to make the corrections.
Although Plug Power has yet to break even and report any profit, it is still projecting $1.7 billion in gross billings by 2024. The company is also flush in cash and has a $21 billion market capitalization, which is the market value of its shares.