Better Buy: Plug Power vs. Bloom Energy
For decades, fuel cell companies are trying to make their operations profitable. Though they haven't been successful so far, an ever rising focus on cleaner energy sources could change that. This enthusiasm drove stock of top fuel cell maker Plug Power (NASDAQ: PLUG) up by around 1,000% last year. Bloom Energy (NYSE: BE) stock too surged 280% in 2020. However, both the stocks are right now more than 50% off their 2021 highs. After so much volatility, which way could these two stocks be headed? Let's see the key factors that may drive the performance of the two stocks in the future.
Though both Plug Power and Bloom Energy offer fuel cells, their products differ in significant ways. Plug Power offers proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells. Its fuel cells generate electricity by taking hydrogen as an input fuel. By comparison, Bloom Energy's fuel cell offerings right now use natural or biogas as an input fuel. Its solid-oxide fuel cells produce electricity through an electrochemical process, without combustion of the fuel. So, it produces far less emissions compared to the traditional process of burning fuel to generate electricity.
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Source Fool.com
