Plug Power is racing against two calendar milestones this month that will test whether its turnaround has staying power. The hydrogen specialist faces a shareholder vote on June 11 to authorise 25 million new shares, while a separate asset sale worth up to $142 million must close by June 30. Both events carry the weight of determining the company’s near-term liquidity and investor confidence.
The prospect of dilution has already rattled the stock. Shares tumbled nearly 10% on Friday alone to EUR 2.80, extending the seven-day slide to roughly 18%. That drop erased about a quarter of the value from the 52-week high of EUR 3.72 touched just earlier in June. The broader hydrogen sector also suffered, with Ballard Power and NEL ASA falling into a “sell-the-news” pattern after a strong year-to-date run.
At the heart of Friday’s sell-off is the vote to expand the equity option pool from roughly 91 million to 116 million shares. Management argues the dilution is necessary to retain and attract engineers and other critical staff. But for a company that has yet to post a profit and relies heavily on external capital, the signal is painful. The technical picture underlines the stress: the relative strength index sits at 42.7, and the annualised 30-day volatility exceeds 100%.
Adding to the tension, board member Kavita Mahtani will depart on the same day as the annual meeting to take a senior role at Wells Fargo. The company says there are no disagreements over strategy, but the timing compounds the unease among shareholders who are already bracing for a contentious vote.
Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying Plug Power?
Beyond the AGM, another clock is ticking. Plug Power must complete the sale of its “Project Gateway” site in New York to Stream Data Centers before the end of June. The transaction could bring in up to $142 million in cash, depending on final terms. The company ended the first quarter with more than $800 million in liquidity, but only $223 million was freely available — the rest is held in restricted accounts that release funds only gradually. That makes the Gateway cash a critical piece of the puzzle.
The financial strain sits alongside genuine operational progress. First-quarter revenue rose 22% year-on-year to $163.5 million, while gross margin improved from minus 55% to minus 13%. The loss per share came in at $0.08, narrower than analyst forecasts. In May, the board gave the final green light to a hydrogen project in Barrow-in-Furness, England, that is designed to cut natural gas consumption at a nearby Kimberly-Clark plant by half. The company also raised $39.2 million in the quarter by selling investment tax credits from its St. Gabriel, Louisiana, facility — a non-dilutive financing tool management is using deliberately.
The macro environment, however, remains unfriendly. The May US jobs report showed 172,000 new positions, a stronger-than-expected reading that dampens hopes of early rate cuts. For capital-intensive sectors like green hydrogen, a prolonged period of elevated interest rates is a structural headwind.
CEO Jose Luis Crespo has reiterated his target of achieving positive EBITDAS in the fourth quarter of 2026, with full profitability pencilled in for 2028. The Gateway sale is a linchpin of that timeline. If the June 30 closing goes smoothly and the AGM vote passes without an uproar, the management team buys itself the financial breathing room needed to execute. If either milestone stumbles, the stock — which has climbed from a low of EUR 0.76 — could see those gains evaporate quickly.
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