Shares of FuelCell Energy Inc. FCEL, -9.52% sank 8.8% in afternoon trading Wednesday, to lead its fuel cell peers in losses, after a relatively tepid endorsement of the fuel cell company by KeyBanc Capital analyst Leo Mariani, who cited smaller revenue and less visibility on near-term growth compared with its peers. And while Mariani is positive on fuel cell industry for the long term, he believes it could take years before they become competitive relative to traditional energy sources. Mariani started coverage of FuelCell at sector weight, while initiating Plug Power Inc. PLUG, -6.68% at overweight and upgrading Bloom Energy Crop. BE, -6.22% to overweight from sector weight. He also initiated Ballard Power Systems Inc. BLDP, -4.46% at sector weight. “Fuel cells can’t compete today on economics with power generated by fossil fuels, but they will offer much cleaner and more reliable power vs. traditional grid sources,” Mariani wrote in a note to clients. “We think fuel cells will become much more competitive later this decade as technological progress and much greater manufacturing scale drives unit costs lower, much like the world saw with progress on [electric vehicles] and solar and wind energy.” Shares of Plug Power shed 5.0%, Bloom Energy dropped 6.4% and Ballard Power gave up 3.5%, while the S&P 500 SPX, -1.94% slid 1.1%.
