Bloom Energy sees 'momentum' for its alternative-energy products

By Claudia Assis

Bloom Energy reports a wider quarterly loss and revenue that missed the mark, but maintains its outlook for the year, announces Intel installation

Shares of Bloom Energy Inc. rose 4% in the extended session Thursday as investors overlooked a wider-than-expected quarterly loss and lower revenue for the alternative-energy company but cheered an intact outlook and an agreement with an Intel Corp. data center.

Bloom Energy (BE) announced the agreement with Intel (INTC) for what the company said will result in Silicon Valley's largest fuel cell-powered computing data center.

Bloom Energy lost $57.5 million, or 25 cents a share, in the first quarter, compared with a loss of $71.6 million, or 35 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter.

Adjusted for one-time items, the company lost 17 cents a share. Analysts polled by FactSet expected an adjusted loss of 12 cents a share.

Revenue fell 15% to $235.3 million, Bloom Energy said. That includes product and service revenue of $209.8 million, an 11% drop. The FactSet analysts forecast revenue of $249 million for the quarter.

Bloom kept its outlook, however, as executives said the company was enjoying some momentum and seeing opportunities in more industries.

"We are seeing strong market interest, increasing momentum and robust commercial activity across diverse end markets," Chief Executive KR Sridhar said in a statement. "In addition to data centers, we view AI hardware supply-chain industries as a good growth opportunity for Bloom, both in the U.S. and in Asia."

Bloom Energy reaffirmed its 2024 outlook, calling for revenue between $1.4 billion and $1.6 billion, and non-GAAP operating income between $75 million and $100 million.

The agreement with Intel calls for additional capacity for Bloom Energy's fuel cell-based servers at an existing Intel computing data center in Santa Clara, Calif.

"The resulting installation will be the single largest fuel cell-powered high-performance computing data center in Silicon Valley," Bloom Energy said.

The announcement is likely to grab investors' attention thanks to Bloom's long-term focus on the data-center market, Jordan Levy with Truist said in a note Thursday.

Levy said he'd be looking for "additional details from the company as it relates to specific volumes/timing on the deal given the expansion on an already-in-place system."

-Claudia Assis

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05-09-24 2013ET

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