the weakness behind PLUG (given BLDP has held better in the tech slide).
It does appear WS is shutting down the readily availability of capital, making investiments dependant on revenue off into the future a bit risky
mad2
biz.yahoo.com
Wednesday November 22, 3:31 pm Eastern Time
Plug Power shares slip back below offering price
NEW YORK, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Fuel cell developer Plug Power Inc.'s (NasdaqNM:PLUG - news) stock fell below its Oct. 29, 1999, offering price of $15 on Wednesday, completing the wipeout of a 10-fold gain it made during its first three months of trading.
In afternoon trading, the stock was down $1-5/8 to an all-time low of $14-3/4.
Before the market opened Wednesday, the Latham, N.Y.-based electrotechnology company filed an amended third-quarter 10-Q report with the Securities and Exchange Commission, correcting dates in the original filing, Director of Investor Relations Steve Zenker said.
The revised 10-Q, like the original, said the company expects to sell fuel cells at a loss ``until after 2003.''
On Oct. 26, Southern California Gas Co. filed with the SEC saying it planned to sell 500,000 Plug Power shares. A second second 144 filing by the Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - news) subsidiary on Nov. 13 disclosed that the first sale, 74,000 shares, was made Oct. 26 and by Nov. 8 SoCalGas had sold some 390,000 shares. The second filing announced plans to sell another 500,000 of the company's original 1,350,000 share holding.
The sales are being made for ``business and regulatory reasons,'' spokeswoman Denise King said.
Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co. analyst Maurice May said the San Diego-based utility's stock sales are the result of an agreement with regulators to share investment gains with rate payers.
In a Nov. 17 report, he initiated coverage of the stock as an accumulate for risk-tolerant investors at or below $19 per share, saying he sees the first annual profit in 2005 and the first ``meaningful level of earnings'' in 2007.
This week, ABN AMRO's U.S. utility analysts began coverage of four energy technology stocks, setting a $22 price target and a neutral rating for Plug Power. They also expect the company to continue incurring losses through 2004.
Plug Power's 10-Q reiterated the company's expectations that its first commercial unit will be produced during the first half of 2002.
While the company has obligations to General Electric Co. (NYSE:GE - news) ``in 2001 with respect to precommercial and certain first generation commercial products, we do not expect any significant sales to GE before full commercial product availability during the first half of 2001,'' the filing adds.
The 7-kilowatt fuel cells Plug Power plans would be marketed by GE Fuel Cell Systems to provide electricity in homes. The marketing venture is owned 75 percent by GE and 25 percent by Plug Power.
The filing also disclosed Engelhard Corp. (NYSE:EC - news) had invested $5 million -- of the $10 million it is obligated to invest -- in Plug Power stock as of Sept. 30.
The company's major owners are its founders, DTE Energy Co. (NYSE:DTE - news) and Mechanical Technology Inc. (NasdaqNM:MKTY - news), which continue to own 31.5 percent each.
Wednesday afternoon, DTE shares were down 1/4 at $37-1/16 and Mechanical Technology had traded at $4-1/2, its lowest price since April 1998, before steadying at $4-5/8, down 7.5 percent or 3/8 for the session. Its stock climbed as high as $33-11/16 in March, reflecting the company's Plug Power stake.
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