Air Products to Build Hydrogen Refueling Station Network

Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. APD has announced plans to establish a network of permanent, commercial-scale multi-modal hydrogen refueling stations spanning from Edmonton to Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
The permanent, multi-modal hydrogen filling stations will be designed to serve both heavy-duty vehicles, such as commercial and municipal trucks and buses, and light-duty hydrogen fuel cell cars. The stations will be located along the Queen Elizabeth II Highway, which runs through Calgary and Edmonton, offering a filling experience and speed comparable to gasoline or diesel. This hydrogen infrastructure will assist Western Canada in achieving its goal of 5,000 hydrogen or dual-fuel vehicles on the road within five years.
The first Air Products permanent hydrogen filling station, located in Edmonton near the construction site of the company's landmark net-zero hydrogen energy complex, is set to be onstream in 2025. Air Products has currently installed a temporary hydrogen mobile fueler on-site to supply customers. The permanent Edmonton hydrogen refueling station is partially funded with C$1 million from Natural Resources Canada's Zero Emission Vehicle Infrastructure Program.
Moreover, Air Products has a hydrogen mobile fueler at Edmonton International Airport to supply hydrogen to the airport's fleet of Toyota Mirai hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, as well as a mobile fueler on Aurum Road to serve the greater Edmonton market.
Air Products, the world's leading provider of hydrogen, has hands-on operational expertise with over 250 hydrogen filling station projects in 20 countries, and its technologies are used in more than 1.5 million fuelling operations each year.
The stock has lost 19.4% over the past year compared with a 5.8% decline of its industry.

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Air Products, on its fiscal first-quarter call, said that it expects fiscal 2024 adjusted EPS of $12.20-$12.50, indicating 6-9% growth from the prior year's adjusted EPS. For the second quarter of fiscal 2024, the company expects adjusted earnings per share in the range of $2.60-$2.75.
Air Products expects capital expenditures in the range of $5 billion to $5.5 billion for fiscal 2024.

Zacks Rank & Key Picks

Air Products currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Better-ranked stocks in the basic materials space include Denison Mines Corp. DNN, Carpenter Technology Corporation CRS and Ecolab Inc. ECL.
Denison Mines sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). DNN beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the last four quarters, with the average earnings surprise being 300%. The company's shares have soared 95.1% in the past year.Carpenter Technology currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). CRS beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the last four quarters while matching it once, with the average earnings surprise being 12.2%. The company's shares have soared 60.5%% in the past year.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Ecolab's current-year earnings is pegged at $6.43 per share, indicating a year-over-year rise of 23.4%. ECL, a Zacks Rank #2 stock, beat the consensus estimate in each of the last four quarters, with the average earnings surprise being 1.7%. The company's shares have rallied roughly 31.3% in the past year.

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