Investors unplugged from Plug Power - whose shares had more than doubled in the past week to $10.31. Plug Power climbed to $11.72 in early Tuesday trading before losing energy, plunging 42% to close at $6.03. It was the biggest percentage loser and most heavily traded stock on Wall Street. It was down another 2% in after-hours trading.
Plug Power shot up last month on a deal to provide Wal-Mart with fuel cells for 1,738 warehouse forklifts, prompting Cowen & Co. analyst Rob Stone to hike his price target to $5.50 a share.
Tuesday's plunge, in part, was due to comments in a report by Citron Research, which specializes in short selling stock guidance. Citron said Plug Power has lost $850 million since 2000 and values shares at 50 cents.
"There's a consistent string of broken promises, and complete unaccountability for management guidance,'' said Citron. "Profitability? Forget about it."
Plug Power is due to report quarterly earnings Thursday. CEO Andy Marsh, speaking at an investment conference, said the Latham, N.Y., based company expects to break even even this year after years of losses.
Among rivals, FuelCell Energy - which hit an inter-day high of $4.75 - sank 17% to $3.28, falling another 4% in after hours trading. The provider of fuel cells for power generating plants said Monday that first quarter revenue rose 22% to $44 million. Losses narrowed to $10.6 million from $11.7 million in the year-ago quarter.
Ballard Power Systems, a Power Plug supplier, tumbled 26% to $5.10, while Maxwell Technologies eased 10%.
Plug Power had been on an electrifying run of late, up 8,000% from its 52-week, 14-cent low. Even with Tuesday's selloff, its up 4,200%. Maxwell is up 167%, FuelCell Energy has gained 290% and Ballard has climbed 571%.
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