An agreement with French vehicle manufacturer Groupe Renault on Tuesday sent the shares of Plug Power Inc. to its highs in nearly 15 years, with one analyst saying the potential joint venture was “transformative” for the American company.
Power plug,
shares rose more than 14%, well on track for their highest close since May 2006 and a six-day win, the longest streak since October.
Shares have gained 92% in the six-session stretch and 1,377% in the last twelve months, compared to gains of around 16% in the S&P 500 index. SPX,
However, it is still a long way from a record high of $ 1,497.50 reached in March 2000.
Tuesday before, Plug Power and Renault RNO,
he 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 vehicle manufacturing capabilities with its knowledge of Plug Power’s fuel cell and hydrogen systems manufacturing, and will position companies to become “key players” in the car battery industry. fuel, companies said.
“We see this as a validation of (Plug Power) technical capability in both electrolyzers and fuel cells,” Jefferies analysts, led by Jeffrey Osborne, said in a note Tuesday. They reiterated their valuation of Plug Power shares to their purchase equivalent and raised the target price to $ 73.50, from $ 50.
“We are impressed that the company has achieved this victory over the French vendors,” they said. “This joint venture gives us more confidence in our revenue expectations for Plug Power, which we anticipate between ($ 200 million) and ($ 250 million) for the mobility part of the business by 2024.”
According to Jefferies analysts, the “momentum” of the stocks continues.
Shares of Plug Power met last week after the company announced a $ 1.5 billion investment from South Korea’s SK group and plans to form a joint venture with the company in Korea next year.
Plug Power shares gained another boost on Tuesday as Truist Securities analysts began hedging the shares with a buy rating and a $ 60 price target.
Analysts congratulated Plug Power’s 973% gain last year and said that while stocks are unlikely to repeat this move in 2021, we see (Plug Power) turning the “hydrogen drum” into specific orders and profitability over the next three years, which is how to increase performance ”.
Of the eleven analysts who covered Plug Power and surveyed by FactSet, only one values the hold, to a 10 values a purchase with an average target price of $ 46.59.