Plug Power (PLUG) Stock Primed to Miss on Earnings

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Plug Power Inc (NASDAQ:PLUG) stock, a small-cap fuel cell company, is set to report fourth-quarter and full-year 2014 earnings on Tuesday before the bell. Off 57% in the last year as the S&P 500 (INDEXSP:.INX) rallied 11% higher, PLUG stock desperately needs some good news to reignite its share price.

plug power inc plug stock primed to miss on earningsWhile you never know beforehand if a company will beat Wall Street estimates or fall short, all signs point to a rough quarter for PLUG stock.

Poor Sales and a Delayed Report Date

Analysts are calling for revenue of $26.3 million in the fourth-quarter, up an incredible 227% from the same quarter a year ago. Still, no one expects PLUG stock to be profitable just yet, and Wall Street thinks the company will lose 4 cents per share.

Plug Power isn’t exactly on a roll when it comes to quarterly reports. When the fuel cell manufacturer reported third-quarter results back in November, PLUG stock reported double the per-share loss analysts expected while also coming in about 19% light on revenue.

Those results were even horrendous enough to send shares of alternative energy peers FuelCell Energy Inc (NASDAQ:FCEL) and Ballard Power Systems Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:BLDP) plunging that day as well.

But just because PLUG stock earnings whiffed last quarter doesn’t mean it’s bound to happen again. The more troubling trend is PLUG’s recent sharp downward revision of expected 2015 revenue: in late January, the company said it expected FY 2015 sales to come in above $100 million — quite a different tune from the $130 million the company was expecting just three weeks earlier.

But the most ominous sign that the PLUG stock price could take a nasty hit on Tuesday is the company’s decision to delay its 10-K filing. In an SEC document filed March 3, the company explains:

“The Company has experienced unforeseen delays in collecting, compiling and finalizing certain financial and other related data necessary to complete the Report, particularly data relating to a substantially higher level of complex customer transactions. The Report will be filed on or before the 15th calendar day following the prescribed due date.”

Historically speaking, this doesn’t bode well for PLUG stock. An academic study conducted by business professors at NYU and Rutgers shows that companies that delay their earnings announcements end up missing earnings estimates 55% of the time.

Sure, 55% of the time doesn’t sound that bad, but we’re essentially talking about a coin flip, so this delayed report date definitely doesn’t comfort PLUG stock investors.

As of this writing John Divine held no positions in any of the stocks mentioned. You can follow him on Twitter at @divinebizkid or email him at editor@investorplace.com.

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Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2015/03/plug-power-inc-plug-stock-primed-to-miss-on-earnings/.

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