Millionaire-maker hydrogen stocks should be on your watch list. These companies have great upside potential via their strong catalysts and the industry’s progressive acceptance of hydrogen as a clean energy source.

We’ll discuss three hydrogen stocks that could mint new millionaires due to their explosive growth trajectories and low market caps. The following companies represent the best investors can hope for in terms of a moonshot toward $1 million on a $10,000 investment.

So here are three hydrogen stocks to consider.

Plug Power (PLUG)

Plug Power (NASDAQ:PLUG) is known for its hydrogen fuel cell technology, particularly in electric vehicle power solutions. Because of its severely depressed share price and the uncertainty around it, PLUG is my contrarian pick of the three.

The company’s share price dropped by 31.5% in November. The company reported sales of $198.7 million and a $0.47 loss per share, falling short of analysts’ expectations. It’s also burning through cash at an alarming rate, requiring it to raise capital if it intends to stay in business.

However, there is a silver lining. The company’s CEO believes it will survive due to a new hydrogen tax credit and the expectation that it will turn its business around.

PLUG trades at just 2.93 times sales, significantly lower than 3.86 times sales for its industry peers. This means that if it can return to chart towards profitability, it could deliver substantial gains for investors. This makes it one of those hydrogen stocks to consider.

Ballard Power Systems (BLDP)

Ballard Power Systems (NASDAQ:BLDP) specializes in proton exchange membrane fuel cell development. Unlike PLUG, this company is in a significantly better financial position, with positive analyst surprises for its earnings and revenues last quarter.

Revenues grew 29.2% last quarter to $27.58 million, while the company’s EPS for the same period was -$0.12, which shows an improvement from -$0.14 a year ago.

Analysts also predict that there could be a modest upside in store for BLDP stockholders. The analyst consensus rating for this company is “Hold,” and its projected upside is 6.89%. However, its stock price is still low relative to other stocks in the same industry at just $3.92 per share, which implies a significant upside.

BLDP also holds a significant amount of cash on its balance sheet at $783 million, which will buy it a considerable amount of runway, considering it burnt through $156.52 million over the last 12 months.

So, for investors interested in a hydrogen stock less risky than PLUG, BLDP could be their winning ticket. The balance sheet and comparatively better quarterly results provide some safety.

ITM Power (ITMPF)

ITM Power (OTCMKTS:ITMPF) designs and manufactures electrolyzers crucial for producing green hydrogen. It’s a company in the U.K. that provides diversification benefits to U.S. investors.

ITMPF stock is one of my favorite hydrogen stocks on this list. This is because, on an adjusted EBITDA basis, it recently reported a loss of between £22-23.5 million for the first half of this year, which trends favorably against the lower end of its full-year expectation of £45-55 million. ITMPF also has plenty of cash on its balance sheet to continue growing its business at £253.7 million.

But what makes ITMPF truly a potential millionaire-making hydrogen stock is it plans to expand to the U.S. market and has undergone some significant cost-cutting measures in headcount to buy it time to execute this strategy. Commonly, when a company lays off its staff, it tends to outperform in future quarters due to having a sleeker and more efficient business model. The U.S. market is also expected to be a major growth driver for the hydrogen industry in general.

Finally, the CEO also remarked positively on the company’s efforts so far in 2023 and believes that it has made progress in all the major aspects of its development. This makes it a hydrogen stock that investors should consider if they’re interested in multi-bagger returns.

On the date of publication, Matthew Farley did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.