Fuel Cell Stocks Surge as Ballard CEO Dismisses Fears of Bubble

In an article published Monday morning by Bloomberg, writer Eric Lam interviewed the Ballard Power Systems BLDP Chief Executive Officer, John Sheridan. The exec has held the position for nine years and is set to retire at the end of 2014. The CEO described the Ballard of 15 years ago as a “one-track company...subsidizing R&D for the likes of Ford F and Daimler and it didn't make sense.” Today, Ballard focuses “on fuel cells for buses, forklifts and telecommunications towers,” wrote Lam. Perhaps the diverse uses of fuel cells, as Sheridan described, will add stability to this exciting industry. Ballard -- and the fuel cell industry as a whole -- has been in the spotlight the past month after stocks such as Ballard, Plug Power PLUG, and FuelCell Energy FCEL jumped upwards of 100 percent in late February/early March. These stocks have since given back most of their gains on March 11th. The quick drop on March 11th brought fear into the hearts of many investors and money managers alike, who should recall the severe drop from $145 (on a split adjusted basis) in Ballard at the height of the technology bubble. During the technology bubble, investors pushed the stock to “astronomical” levels on the company's guidance that the auto industry would transition from gasoline to hydrogen cells, Sheridan said. When taking a step back, the decline of March 11th doesn't appear to be as threatening. Ballard Power, for instance, is still up a massive 606 percent since January 2013! Shares of Ballard, Plug Power, and FuelCell Energy are up 4.1, 5.5, and 8.6 percent, respectively, in Monday's trading.