Ballard Power Systems Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:BLDP) (TSE:BLD) shares surged a whopping 32.19% Tuesday to close at $5.40. The stock rose another 4.44% in pre-market trading to $5.64. The rally was driven by Plug Power Inc (NASDAQ:PLUG)’s big news. Plug Power CEO Andy Marsh told MarketWatch yesterday that his company has signed a deal in North America with a large automaker. Marsh didn’t reveal the name of the automaker, but said an official announcement will be made in the next 2-3 weeks. There have been rumors that it’s none other than Volkswagen AG (OTCMKTS:VLKAY) (ETR:VOW3).
Ballard Power is up 250% this year
Ballard Power Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:BLDP) (TSE:BLD) supplies fuel cell stacks to Plug Power Inc (NASDAQ:PLUG) for its about 2,800 GenDrive Systems. Burnaby, Canada-based Ballard Power produces proton exchange membrane fuel cells. No analyst has a Buy or Sell rating on the stock. Only two analysts rate it a Hold. Now Ballard Power has a market value of about $590 million. The stock has gained about 250% this year so far.
Plug Power Inc (NASDAQ:PLUG) stock itself skyrocketed 49.03% on Tuesday to $8.48 on the big news. Shares are up another 9.67% to $9.30 in pre-market trading Wednesday. Notably, short interest in the stock reached a historical peak of 39% of the float recently. More importantly, none of the Plug Power insiders have been selling their holdings in the open market since the beginning of 2014. The stock has soared 420% this year so far.
Plug Power is still far below its all-time high of $1,510
Plug Power Inc (NASDAQ:PLUG) shares have witnessed massive ups and downs over the past few weeks. On March 12, the stock plummeted 42% after research firm Citron Research dismissed its fundamentals and called it a penny stock. Shares jumped 25% after the company reported better than expected quarterly results. Last week, Plug Power shares fell 11%.
Plug Power Inc (NASDAQ:PLUG) shares traded below $1 in December 2013, and rose to as high as $11 on March 10. But don’t be surprised by these gains. In March 2000, Plug Power shares reached their all-time high of $1,510 before suffering a constant decline. The Latham, New York-based company has never returned annual profits since its inception.
