A deal with French carmaker Groupe Renault on Tuesday cleared the shares of Plug Power Inc. to its highest level in nearly 15 years, with one analyst calling the potential joint venture “transformative” for the US company.
Plug plug,
shares were up more than 14%, hitting their highest closing price since May 2006 and a six-day winning streak, their longest streak since October.
The stock is up 92% over the six sessions, and 1,377% over the past 12 months, compared to a gain of about 16% for the S&P 500 index. SPX,
However, it is still a long way from the March 2000 record high of $ 1,497.50.
Earlier Tuesday, Plug Power and Renault RNO,
said they had signed a memorandum of understanding to launch a 50-50 joint venture in France by the end of the first half of 2021.
The effort will combine Renault’s automotive manufacturing capabilities with Plug Power’s knowledge of fuel cell and hydrogen system manufacturing, positioning the companies to become “key players” in the fuel cell industry, the companies said.
“We see this as a confirmation of (Plug Power) technical prowess in both electrolysis devices and fuel cells,” analysts at Jefferies, led by Jeffrey Osborne, said in a note Tuesday. They reiterated their rating on Plug Power stock against their buy equivalent and raised their target price from $ 50 to $ 73.50.
“We are impressed that the company has achieved this victory over French sellers,” they said. “This joint venture gives us further confidence in our revenue expectations for Plug Power, which we expect to be between ($ 200 million) and ($ 250 million) for the mobility portion of the business in 2024.”
“Momentum” for the stock continues, according to Jefferies analysts.
Plug Power’s stock rose last week after the company announced a $ 1.5 billion investment from SK Group in South Korea and intended to form a joint venture with the company in Korea next year.
Plug Power shares received another boost on Tuesday when Truist Securities analysts began hedging the stock at a buy rating and a price target of $ 60.
The analysts praised Plug Power’s 973% rise last year and said that while it is “unlikely that stocks will repeat this move in 2021, we see (Plug Power) turn the ‘hydrogen hype’ into concrete orders and profitability in the next three. year. see stimulating further outperformance. “
Of the 11 analysts reviewing Plug Power and polled by FactSet, only one rates it as a hold, against 10 it values a buy with an average price target of $ 46.59.