The Zhitong Finance App learned that before the latest quarterly earnings report was about to be announced, the stock price of Bloom Energy (BE.US) rose more than 5% before the market on Monday. The market expects its quarterly results to highlight its rapid growth in the AI infrastructure power supply sector, while retail investors are betting that the earnings report released on Thursday will revive the stock's momentum.
Bloom Energy's stock price plummeted 21% last week, the worst weekly performance in nearly four months, as the semiconductor and AI sectors experienced a wider sell-off. Chinese chipmaker Changxin Storage's next-generation storage plans have raised market concerns about increased competition, dragged down broader AI transactions, and Bloom Energy's data center power supply business was also affected.
Despite this, Wall Street's expectations for the company's growth have raised the market's focus on its earnings reports.
Truist is optimistic about Bloom Energy's third quarter results. The core drivers are steady year-on-year demand, continued positive business momentum, and improved profitability. The broker raised its target price from $218 to $240, which means about 2% upside compared to the current share price, while maintaining a “hold” rating.
The agency said that Bloom Energy's current valuation largely reflects long-term growth value. The target price increase is mainly due to short-term demand being stronger than expected, and the increase in equipment configuration for a single project is expected to drive up the average price of the product.
According to Fiscal.ai data, analysts generally expect the company's third-quarter revenue to increase by about 104% year-on-year, from $519.05 million in the same period last year to $1.06 billion; adjusted earnings per share (EPS) will rise from $0.15 to $0.70. EBITDA is expected to reach US$249.29 million, compared to US$59.26 million in the same period last year.
According to Koyfin data, on a month-on-month basis, analysts expect revenue to increase by 0.6% to about US$1.07 billion, while adjusted EPS will drop by about 14% to $0.67. EBITDA is expected to fall 5.1% to $240.55 million.
Bloom Energy achieved revenue of 1 billion dollars for the first time in the last quarter, with sales of $1,065 billion and adjusted EPS of $0.78. The company also raised its full-year revenue guidance to US$3.9 billion to US$4.2 billion, and the adjusted EPS guidance to US$2.55 to US$2.85.
Tech giants' demand for computing power supply drives market focus on Bloom Energy
As demand for AI computing power grows, Bloom Energy's fuel cells can help data center operators quickly increase on-site power supply. The system uses natural gas through an electrochemical process to generate electricity without combustion.
Last week, American Electric Power (AEP.US) announced plans to invest around $4 billion to build a 702 megawatt project near Cheyenne, Wyoming, using Bloom Energy technology. Google (GOOGL.US) will sign a 20-year electricity purchase agreement to purchase the project's electricity. Construction of the project is expected to begin this year, and the facility will be fully put into operation by the end of 2028.
Oracle (ORCL.US) also reiterated that Bloom Energy's fuel cell microgrid will continue to be the main power source for New Mexico's “Project Jupiter” (Project Jupiter). Its proposed agreement with El Paso Electric (El Paso Electric) will provide electricity for later construction, initial commissioning, and emergency backup.
“There are no changes to our plans,” Oracle said. Earlier, Bloom Energy and Brookfield Asset Management (BAM.US) reached an agreement in June to expand the financing framework for AI infrastructure power supply projects from $5 billion to $25 billion.
On the social investment platform Stocktwits, the overall sentiment of retail investors towards Bloom Energy has been bullish over the past week, despite maintaining a normal level of posting.
