FuelCell Energy shares jump on “buy” rating
Shares of FuelCell Energy Inc. (Nasdaq: FCEL) rose $0.50, or 6.7%, to $8.02 Monday after Lazard Capital Markets initiated coverage on the company with a “buy” rating and a price target of $11.
Founded in 1969, Danbury, Conn.-based FuelCell Energy develops and
manufactures high temperature fuel cells. The company’s core product, the Direct FuelCell, targets industrial and commercial applications.
In a research note issued Monday morning, Lazard analyst Sanjay Shrestha wrote that his firm believes FuelCell to have “the best booking prospects in its history.” The $11 price target reflects earnings scenarios with earnings per share of $0.90-$1.20 over the next five to seven years, he added.
The company’s stock has traded between as low as $5.84 (on Jan. 25) and as high as $15 (on April 25, 2006) in the past year.
FuelCell’s DFC3000 was included in 68 megawatts of projects recently recommended as part of the State of Connecticut’s Project 100.
Last year, the firm received a $36.2 million Phase 1 award from the U.S. Department of Energy for the development of a coal-based, multimegawatt solid oxide fuel cell-based hybrid system.
FuelCell has reduced the cost of its product by more than 70% over the last four years, notes Shrestha. The company’s reduction of overall product cost is critical to establishing the near-term market and slashing cash burn with incremental sales, he writes.
To date, FuelCell has generated over 150 million kWh of power from its 60 fuel cell plants installed at 50 locations around the world.
