FuelCell Energy posts wider quarterly loss as costs outpace new data center contract pricing

FuelCell Energy (NASDAQ:FCEL) reported a steeper third-quarter loss on Wednesday, as inventory and purchase-commitment charges tied to a new data center power agreement pushed costs above what the deal currently pays. Revenue fell 29% year-over-year to $33 million, missing analyst estimates of $41.3 million, while adjusted loss per share came in at $0.64, wider than the $0.41 loss expected. Shares of the company fell nearly 9%. The company's gross loss widened to $24.5 million from a year earlier, a jump of 377%, which it attributed to inventory and purchase-commitment charges tied to Phase 0 of its Capacity Enablement and Power Agreement with Fit Energy. FuelCell Energy said costs at its current annualized production rate of about 37.1 MW exceed the pricing set under that agreement. Committed backlog rose 4.1% year-over-year to $1.3 billion, while committed and awarded backlog reached $3.6 billion. FuelCell Energy said it signed its first data center power agreement after the quarter closed, a Capacity Reservation Agreement with a major data center operator for a planned 75 MW project in Texas comprising six 12.5 MW units, backed by an upfront reservation payment. Under the Fit Energy agreement, FuelCell Energy could supply up to 380 MW across four phases of data center baseload power, with Phase 0 deliveries of 30 MW set to begin in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026. The company said $2.4 billion was added to its awarded capacity backlog covering Fit Energy's option on a further 350 MW, which remains uncontracted and outside the committed backlog. Cash and restricted cash rose to $737.3 mill...