Ballard Power Systems (NASDAQ:BLDP) Shares Gap Up - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Ballard Power Systems shares opened higher, rising from a prior close of $1.52 to $1.615 before settling near $1.525, with roughly 508,000 shares traded.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: the stock has an average “Reduce” rating and a $3.30 price target, based on two Buy, ten Hold and three Sell ratings.
• Ballard reported weaker-than-expected quarterly results, posting a $0.07 per-share loss versus an expected $0.04 loss and revenue of $20.34 million versus the $25.24 million consensus estimate. The company also continues to have deeply negative profitability metrics, including a -72.78% net margin.

Ballard Power Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLDP - Get Free Report) TSE: BLD's share price gapped up before the market opened on Thursday. The stock had previously closed at $1.52, but opened at $1.6150. Ballard Power Systems shares last traded at $1.5250, with a volume of 508,081 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLDP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. National Bank Financial set a $4.75 target price on Ballard Power Systems and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Ballard Power Systems in a report on Thursday, October 15th. KeyCorp restated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Ballard Power Systems in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. HSBC upgraded Ballard Power Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $3.60 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Ballard Power Systems from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $3.30.

Ballard Power Systems Trading Up 0.3%

The company has a market cap of $535.75 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.87 and a beta of 2.26. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $2.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $3.18. The company has a current ratio of 11.19, a quick ratio of 10.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Ballard Power Systems (NASDAQ:BLDP - Get Free Report) TSE: BLD last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The technology company reported ($0.07) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $20.34 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.24 million. Ballard Power Systems had a negative net margin of 72.78% and a negative return on equity of 13.23%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ballard Power Systems, Inc. will post -0.17 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Ballard Power Systems

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BLDP. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ballard Power Systems by 56.8% in the 2nd quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 29,937 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $114,000 after buying an additional 10,850 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC raised its stake in Ballard Power Systems by 31.6% during the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 190,618 shares of the technology company's stock worth $742,000 after acquiring an additional 45,774 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its stake in Ballard Power Systems by 22.2% during the second quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 132,904 shares of the technology company's stock worth $517,000 after acquiring an additional 24,114 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in Ballard Power Systems by 323.8% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 254,913 shares of the technology company's stock worth $992,000 after acquiring an additional 194,768 shares during the period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in Ballard Power Systems during the second quarter worth about $2,070,000. 28.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Ballard Power Systems

Ballard Power Systems Inc develops and manufactures proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell products and technology. Its fuel cell systems generate electricity through an electrochemical process using hydrogen, producing water and heat as byproducts and supporting lower-emission power applications.

The company focuses primarily on heavy-duty mobility markets, including buses, commercial trucks, trains, marine vessels and other specialty vehicles. Ballard also provides fuel cell products and related services for stationary power applications, along with engineering support, technology development and after-sales services.

Founded in 1979 and headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, Ballard serves customers and partners internationally, with activity across North America, Europe and Asia.

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