FuelCell Energy surged 25% after EXIM Bank approved $49M in financing and B. Riley turned bullish on a 380 MW data center deal, one of the largest fuel cell deployments.
FuelCell Energy (FCEL) shares jumped 25% on Monday after the Export-Import Bank of the U.S. agreed to a $49 million financing package and B. Riley raised its rating on the stock to Buy. The upgrade followed a deal to deploy 380 megawatts of power for data centers, the analysts said.
B. Riley lifted its price target to $12 from $3, implying roughly 60% upside from the session's close. The firm cited the revenue visibility from the data center contract and the financing support as de-risking operations for the next 18 months, according to the note.
EXIM's financing covers equipment and installation at the data center site. The agency classifies the project under its clean energy export program, which has prioritized fuel cell and hydrogen projects since 2022. This is the second EXIM-backed fuel cell deal this year, following a smaller Bloom Energy contract in February.
The readthrough for the sector centers on Bloom Energy and Plug Power. Both have data-center strategies. Their fuel strategies differ. Bloom runs on natural gas with hydrogen blending capability. Plug Power requires hydrogen, which adds infrastructure cost. FuelCell's dual-fuel flexibility gave it an edge in this deal.
Data center operators face a tightening timeline. Most have pledged carbon-neutral power by 2030. Grid interconnection queues in Virginia and California stretch five to seven years. On-site fuel cells bypass those delays and provide 24/7 baseload power without the land use of solar or the noise of gas turbines.
The EXIM loan reduces FuelCell's near-term cash burn. The company reported $68 million in cash at the end of last quarter, with quarterly operating losses around $22 million. The $49 million financing covers roughly two quarters of negative free cash flow, giving management time to convert the remaining data center pipeline into signed contracts.
The 380 MW deal is among the largest single-site fuel cell deployments on record. Most previous large orders were for 10-50 MW at a time. This contract marks a new scale for fuel cells in critical infrastructure. The stock closed at its highest level in six months, with trading volume well above average.
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