Why Renewable Energy Stocks Dropped on Thursday
Renewable energy stocks struggled on Thursday, as a combination of falling energy prices and rising interest rates hurt the industry. Plug Power (NASDAQ: PLUG) fell as much as 7.1% in trading today; Blink Charging (NASDAQ: BLNK) fell 10.4%; ChargePoint Holdings (NYSE: CHPT) dropped 7.3%; and First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR) declined a more modest 4.4% at its low. The stocks closed the day down 6.2%, 6.7%, 5.4%, and 2.8%, respectively.
The most notable move in energy markets today was natural gas falling 7.6% in U.S. trading. That's a big decline in prices for a commodity that provides most of the electricity in the U.S.. You'll notice that Plug Power, Blink Charging, ChargePoint, and First Solar are all suppliers in the electricity market, so when a competing commodity falls in price, it makes sense that your product would become less valuable, as well.
A more problematic headwind is the increase in interest rates around the world. In the U.S., 10-year government bond rates were up 17 basis points today alone and have risen 68 basis points in the past month and 239 basis points this year.
Source Fool.com
