Plug Power Reaches Break-Even Gross Margin and Lifts Its Revenue Outlook
Plug Power delivered the kind of quarter its long-suffering shareholders have been waiting years for, and the market noticed. The hydrogen and fuel cell company reported second-quarter net revenue of roughly $178 million, up from about $174 million a year earlier, with gross margin at approximately break-even against roughly negative 31% in the same quarter of 2025, according to the company's August 10 results release.
The loss narrowed on every line. Net loss came in at $188.2 million, or $0.14 per share, compared with $227.1 million and $0.20 per share a year ago. On an adjusted basis the company lost $0.07 per share, against $0.18 in the prior-year quarter. Shares rose 13.3% in Tuesday's session, per TheStreet's market coverage, making Plug one of the day's stronger performers in an otherwise flat tape.
Cost discipline did much of the work. Operating expenses fell roughly 50% year over year to about $62 million from $123.5 million, and net cash usage of approximately $61 million was down 58% from the prior quarter. Plug ended the period with roughly $162 million of unrestricted cash and pointed to an asset monetization program targeting $275 million, with about $80 million of near-term liquidity expected from recent transactions.
Underneath the headline numbers, the material handling business supplied the clearest evidence of operating leverage. GenDrive fuel cell deployments more than doubled to 1,666 units from 739 a year earlier, and service revenue grew 82% to roughly $30 million while carrying a positive 27% margin. Service has historically been a drag on the company's economics, so a positive margin there is a meaningful shift in mix.
The hydrogen production business improved without reaching profitability. Fuel revenue rose about 15% to roughly $39 million, and gross margin on that line narrowed to approximately negative 48% from negative 91% a year earlier. On the electrolyzer side, Plug pointed to a final investment decision on a 30-megawatt project at Barrow Green, a 50-megawatt order from Orica's Hunter Valley operation, and continued progress on a 100-megawatt GALP project and a 25-megawatt project with Iberdrola and BP.
Management raised the full-year outlook alongside the results, guiding to 2026 revenue growth of 15% to 16%. First-half revenue totaled $341.8 million for the six months ended June 30. Chief executive Jose Luis Crespo said the company "delivered revenue growth, improved gross margins, reduced operating expenses, strengthened liquidity" and said Plug believes it is "on track to achieve our positive EBITDAS target in the fourth quarter of 2026."
That fourth-quarter target is the number that matters most for the story the company is telling. Plug has spent years promising a path to positive earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization and stock-based compensation, and the second-quarter print is the first in some time where the trajectory of gross margin, operating expenses and cash burn all point in the same direction at once. The company framed its remaining work for the year as converting pipeline and improving operations to position 2027 for continued growth.
The context cuts both ways. Ahead of the report, analysts were modeling a loss of about $0.08 per share for the quarter, per calendar data cited in Kiplinger's week-ahead preview, so the adjusted result cleared a low bar. With roughly $162 million of unrestricted cash against continuing cash usage, the execution question has shifted from whether margins can improve to whether they can improve fast enough.
