American hydrogen fuel cell manufacturer Bloom Energy (BE-US) recently announced the financial report for the first quarter of the 2022 fiscal year. CEO K. Sridhar said in a conference call that the strong orders from SK Group have inspired Q1 revenue to hit a new high in the same period. As the trend of renewable energy and energy storage continues to drive market growth, it will Continue to expand production, and it is expected that fuel cell production capacity will double by the end of this year.
Sridhar said that last year, the company received a large order from South Korean customers and a large-scale shipment of fuel cells, which made the company’s inventory level low. The delivery volume in the first half of the year was limited. In the first quarter, only SK EcoPlant orders might be shipped first. Currently, it is actively replenishing inventory. Increase capacity.
Sridhar estimates that this year plans to invest $150 million to expand production, and it is expected that fuel cell capacity will increase from 280 MW to 580 MW by the end of this year, and will exceed 1GW by the end of 2023. As the company increases shipments quarter by quarter, the production capacity in the second half of the year is expected to catch up with the demand in the US and international markets, and the revenue scale will also increase.
Benefiting from strong orders from South Korean customers, Bloom Energy’s revenue in the first quarter reached US$201 million, but non-GAAP gross profit margin was only 15.8%, down 13.9 percentage points year-on-year, and the average selling price (ASP) was the same as the same period last year, but basically Raw materials such as metals and power components have risen, and unit product costs have risen.
Sridhar added that the cost of investment in production expansion is being absorbed at this stage. In addition, the inventory production (BTS) in the first quarter fell by 30% compared with the previous quarter. Therefore, it is necessary to replenish the raw materials that fell in the previous quarter. In addition, the cost of raw materials has increased, so that the overall unit product The cost will increase in the short term, but it is expected that the cost of non-raw materials per KW will decrease with the gradual increase in annual production capacity.
Looking ahead, Sridhar predicts that the revenue in the second quarter will reach 228 million yuan, which is the same as the same period last year, and the profit will be improved compared with the first quarter. The revenue in the second half of the year will be better than the first half of the year. This year’s shipments are expected to reach 240-250 MW, the annual revenue will be regarding 1.1-1.15 billion US dollars, an annual increase of 13%, and a non-GAAP gross profit margin of 24%, an annual increase of 4 percentage points.
