Ballard Power Systems Inc
🔔 Watch stock
Assessment
Our Rating
A journalistic assessment by our editorial team at the time of the deep dive — it rates the company, not the entry point. Not investment advice and not a solicitation to buy or sell.
The business works in principle, but one material question is open. As long as it stays open, our findings do not carry a quality verdict.
Why this colour
There is no basis for a red rating: the balance sheet is healthy, there is no bank debt, no going concern warning and no governance or accounting breach, and cash runway at the current burn rate extends far beyond four quarters. Green is not warranted either, because the business model has yet to prove itself: revenue has been flat for ten years, roughly a third of the new gross margin came from released provisions, and half of sales depend on three customers. That is an open operating question rather than a threat to the company's substance. The decision is yours.
What the thesis turns on
Assessment: Opportunities & Risks
Ballard Power is financially sturdier than almost any other company in the hydrogen sector: $505.1 million in liquidity, no bank debt and equity of $559.7 million as of June 30, 2026. Operationally, though, revenue has stood still for a decade ($99.4 million in 2025 against $121.3 million in 2017) while losses have added up to roughly $1.06 billion since 2016. 2026 shows genuine progress — a 20 percent gross margin in the second quarter, operating expenses down 34 percent, a backlog of $156.6 million — yet a third of the new margin came from released provisions, three customers carry half of revenue, and the GeoPura deal costs roughly 17 percent dilution. Not investment advice.
Balance sheet & financial strength
As of June 30, 2026 the balance sheet showed $502.1 million in cash and $505.1 million in total liquidity with no bank debt, against equity of $559.7 million and total liabilities of only $84.2 million. There is no going concern warning, and the self-imposed six-quarter liquidity buffer is exceeded many times over.
Revenue trajectory
Annual revenue of $99.4 million in 2025 came in below the 2017 figure of $121.3 million, having ranged between $69.7 million and $105.7 million in between. Ten years of product development have not produced a durably larger revenue base — the roughly $1.06 billion of losses since 2016 were never caught up by growing sales.
Cost turn & margin
The cost turn is documented: operating expenses down 34 percent to $20.9 million in the second quarter of 2026, half-year operating cash usage halved to $19.2 million, gross margin at 20 percent after negative 8 percent. However, roughly 34 percent of the half-year margin came from released inventory and warranty provisions ($2.331 million of $6.843 million) and does not repeat on its own.
Customer concentration
Three customers accounted for $51.4 million, or roughly 52 percent of 2025 revenue (2025 financial statements, concentration risk note). The management discussion describes the order backlog and twelve-month order book as similarly concentrated and flags possible cancellation, delay and pricing adjustments.
GeoPura acquisition
The deal agreed on June 23, 2026 (£275 million upfront, of which £82.5 million in cash and about 50.8 million new shares at $5.02, enterprise value £301.1 million or roughly $400 million) moves the model toward recurring service revenue — at a cost of roughly 17 percent dilution and a good fifth of the cash. Closing was still pending as of June 30, 2026.
Ownership
Anchor shareholder Weichai Power reported three declining holdings within a single week in May 2026, down to 31,102,826 shares (10.32 percent), and filed on July 6, 2026 to sell a further 15 million shares; both board seats lapsed on May 13, 2026. The Chinese joint venture has been fully written off since 2025 and revenue from China was zero in the first half of 2026.
Worth Noting
This analysis was prompted by our own review of new SEC filings: the GeoPura agreement of June 23, 2026, major shareholder Weichai's Form 144 notice of July 6, 2026 and the half-year report on Form 6-K of July 31, 2026 — not by a screener hit.
Ballard is a Canadian foreign filer: there is no 10-K annual report and no 10-Q quarterly report, only the Form 40-F annual report and Form 6-K interim reports, prepared under IFRS in U.S. dollars. Searching the SEC archive for a 10-K therefore returns nothing.
Valuation figures are dated and evergreen: a market value of roughly $790 million derived from the 301,506,494 shares in the half-year report and the closing price of $2.62 on August 12, 2026; analyst consensus as of August 13, 2026. No daily price is a reason to buy.
Not to be confused: Ballard Power Systems Inc. of Burnaby, Canada is neither the U.S. competitor FuelCell Energy nor Plug Power; the former corporate name attached to today's SEC identifier was 7076991 Canada Inc. (2009).
Stock Watch
This analysis is as of August 26, 2026. Stock Watch will tell you what's changed at BLDP since then.
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Price history
Chart
Interactive price chart (TradingView).
52-week range: 2.00 $ to 6.40 $ · Last price: 2.10 $ (As of: September 28, 2026)
Key figures
Key figures at a glance
Every figure we hold for this stock, grouped by topic. The question mark next to a label explains what the number means.
Basics
Performance
Technical Indicators
Calculated from the price history · as of 09/29/2026
Valuation
Profitability
Balance Sheet & Safety
Growth
Dividend
This stock currently pays no dividend.
Quality & Screener
Comparison
Industry comparison
The stock alongside the largest companies in the same group. The median row is the middle value of the companies shown above — not of the whole industry.
Industry: Electrical Equipment & Parts
| Company | Market cap ($B) | P/E | EV/EBITDA | Gross Margin % | EBIT Margin % | Sales Growth (Year) % | Perf. 1Y % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ballard Power Systems Inc BLDP | 0.6 | – | -4.6 | 16.4 | -62.0 | 45.0 | -25.1 |
| Vertiv Holdings Co VRT | 105.4 | 56.1 | 38.3 | 38.0 | 16.4 | 27.7 | 76.2 |
| Bloom Energy Corp BE | 74.8 | – | 233.1 | 31.7 | 9.6 | 37.3 | 273.8 |
| nVent Electric PLC NVT | 26.0 | 51.7 | 26.0 | 36.4 | 16.0 | 29.5 | 66.6 |
| Hubbell Inc HUBB | 24.9 | 27.6 | 20.2 | 35.3 | 17.8 | 3.8 | 10.9 |
| Advanced Energy Industries Inc AEIS | 11.8 | 54.7 | 34.7 | 40.0 | 14.3 | 21.4 | 67.4 |
| Forgent Power Solutions, Inc. FPS | 11.2 | 1,831.0 | 44.0 | 35.0 | 10.4 | 315.4 | – |
| Acuity Brands Inc AYI | 9.3 | 20.5 | 11.9 | 48.7 | 16.1 | 13.1 | -4.2 |
| Powell Industries Inc POWL | 6.8 | 37.2 | 26.9 | 30.1 | 19.4 | 9.1 | 100.8 |
| Median of companies shown | 11.8 | 51.7 | 26.9 | 35.3 | 16.0 | 27.7 | 67.0 |
Based on the most recently reported figures. Only stocks from the same trading venue are lined up, so the market caps are counted in one currency. Compare in a chart →
Fiscal years
Annual Figures
Fiscal years from the audited annual reports, oldest first. EBIT is the operating profit before interest and taxes; total assets are everything the company owns.
Revenue, operating income and net income per fiscal year $M
Revenue Operating income Net income
| Fiscal Year | Revenue ($M) | EBIT ($M) | Net Income ($M) | EPS ($) | Operating Cash Flow ($M) | Equity ($M) | Total Assets ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 85 | -18 | -22 | -0.13 | -4 | 125 | 183 |
| 2017 | 121 | -5 | -8 | -0.05 | -10 | 120 | 178 |
| 2018 | 97 | -21 | -27 | -0.15 | -32 | 283 | 346 |
| 2019 | 106 | -25 | -39 | -0.17 | -14 | 250 | 340 |
| 2020 | 104 | -40 | -51 | -0.21 | -43 | 901 | 976 |
| 2021 | 105 | -88 | -114 | -0.39 | -80 | 1,326 | 1,439 |
| 2022 | 82 | -142 | -173 | -0.58 | -132 | 1,159 | 1,247 |
| 2023 | 102 | -163 | -178 | -0.60 | -105 | 991 | 1,078 |
| 2024 | 70 | -183 | -324 | -1.08 | -108 | 673 | 777 |
| 2025 | 101 | -82 | -92 | -0.31 | -57 | 589 | 681 |
Quarters
Quarterly Figures
Each bar is one quarter, the last one is the most recent. Use the switch to step through the individual figures.
Revenue & Profit
Cash Flow
Balance Sheet
Margins
Per Share
Click the chart or tab into it, then use ← and → to step through the periods.
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· Total · per year
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The figures could not be loaded right now.
Source: fundamental data
| Quarter | EPS (Earnings Per Share) | EPS YoY (%) | Sales ($M) | Sales YoY (%) | Net Margin (%) | OCF ($M) | FCF ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024: Q3 | -0.19 | -58.30 | 15 | -45.50 | -1,389.40 | -29 | -40 |
| 2024: Q4 | -0.27 | -69.10 | 25 | -48.30 | -189.50 | -24 | -30 |
| 2025: Q1 | -0.10 | 28.60 | 15 | 6.50 | -136.70 | -24 | -27 |
| 2025: Q2 | -0.11 | -10.00 | 18 | 11.50 | -136.10 | -20 | -23 |
| 2025: Q3 | -0.09 | 52.60 | 33 | 120.30 | -86.40 | -23 | -24 |
| 2025: Q4 | -0.04 | 84.20 | 34 | 37.20 | -52.10 | 12 | 8 |
| 2026: Q1 | -0.04 | 60.00 | 19 | 26.20 | -58.70 | -8 | -8 |
| 2026: Q2 | -0.07 | 36.40 | 20 | 12.50 | -98.40 | -11 | -12 |
What Do These Terms Mean?
- EPS (Earnings Per Share):
- Quarterly profit divided by the total share count — how much of the profit works out to a single share.
- YoY (Year over Year):
- Change versus the same quarter a year ago — this is how you compare without seasonal distortion (e.g. the holiday shopping season).
- Sales:
- All revenue for the quarter, before any costs are deducted — the top line of the income statement.
- Net Margin:
- What percentage of sales is left over as profit in the end. Negative means the company is posting a loss.
- OCF (Operating Cash Flow):
- The cash that actually flows into the till from the core business during the quarter — harder to dress up than book profit.
- FCF (Free Cash Flow):
- Operating cash flow minus capital expenditures — the money that's genuinely free to use, say for paying down debt, buybacks, or dividends.
Screening
Appears in These Scanners
This stock currently matches 1 of our scanner strategies — each hit links to the scanner.
Research
Only genuine hits from verified scanners count; pure ranking metrics (P/E, P/S, and similar, which just sort the whole universe) don't count as a hit. View all scanners
Outlook
Analysts & Price Target
Combined picture of the price targets and recommendations of every analyst covering the stock. Price targets are expectations for the next 12 months, not promises — and they often follow the price rather than predict it.
Distribution of Recommendations
Estimates by Fiscal Year
| Fiscal Year | EPS Estimate ($) | EPS Range ($) | Revenue Estimate ($M) | Expected Growth | Analysts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12/31/2026 | -0.17 | -0.20 – -0.14 | 102 | 38.9% | 2 |
| 12/31/2027 | -0.14 | -0.19 – -0.11 | 142 | 15.7% | 3 |
Average of the analyst estimates for the coming fiscal years. The range shows how far the most optimistic and the most cautious estimate sit apart — the wider it is, the less certain the expectation.
Valuation
What is priced in?
Free cash flow over the past twelve months is negative, which rules out a serious reverse calculation. Any growth rate only makes a negative cash flow more negative; no present value comes out of it. What the price reflects here is therefore not a stream of cash flows, but the expectation that there will be one at all.
A simplified model calculation — not a forecast and not a recommendation.
AI classification
AI Rating
Ballard Power verkauft PEM-Brennstoffzellen; in den geprüften SEC-Einreichungen (40-F 2025 mit Jahresabschluss, MD&A und Annual Information Form, 6-K zum 30.06.2026 mit Zwischenabschluss und MD&A, Ergebnismitteilung Q2 2026) findet sich keine einzige Erwähnung von künstlicher Intelligenz, maschinellem Lernen oder KI-gestützten Produkten — weder als Umsatzquelle noch als operatives Werkzeug noch als Risikofaktor; die einzige KI-nahe Stelle nennt den steigenden Strombedarf von Rechenzentren als möglichen künftigen Absatzmarkt für stationäre Brennstoffzellen, ohne Umsatz oder Auftrag.
View the full file — quotes, sources, reviewed filings
„As power demand from datacenter increases, PEM fuel cell system may support reduced time-to-power and provide complementary or backup power to the grid or to on-site generation."
Mit steigendem Strombedarf von Rechenzentren können PEM-Brennstoffzellensysteme dazu beitragen, die Zeit bis zur Stromverfügbarkeit zu verkürzen, und ergänzende Leistung oder Notstrom für das Netz oder die Erzeugung vor Ort bereitstellen.
40-F · 2026-03-12 · View SEC filing
Filings Reviewed: 40-F 2026-03-12 · 40-F 2026-03-12 · 40-F 2026-03-12 · 6-K 2026-07-31 · 6-K 2026-07-31 · 6-K 2026-07-31
Rated on August 13, 2026 · How the Rating Is Built
Growth
Growth Score
Ten checks against the annual reports — each one passed counts a point.
- Revenue grows by more than 15% a year over three years 7.3%
- More than 10% revenue growth is expected for the coming year -70.9%
- Share count grows by less than 3% a year 0.5%
- Revenue growth plus cash-flow margin add up to at least 40 ("Rule of 40") -21.4%
- Gross margin at 40% or higher and without meaningful erosion 2.4%
- Goodwill from acquisitions does not grow faster than revenue 0.0%
- Net debt below twice EBITDA 508 m net cash
- Operating cash flow covers the profits of the last three years 325 m
- Return on capital at 15% or higher, or up versus two years ago -13.1%
- Insiders hold at least 10% or are net buyers 10.4%
A criterion without figures counts neither as passed nor as failed; a score is only produced from 7 judgeable criteria upwards. Source: fundamental data. All ten criteria in detail
Quality check
AAQS
3/10The AAQS (AlleAktien Quality Score) checks 10 quality criteria on growth, profitability, and balance-sheet strength — per the methodology developed and published by AlleAktien, calculated by us from our own fundamental data. A stock counts as a quality stock from 9 out of 10 points. Where a company has a shorter listing history, we calculate over the fiscal years available (at least five).
- Sales growth 10Y > 5% 1.9%
- Exp. sales growth 3Y > 5% 18.5%
- EBIT growth 10Y > 5% –
- Exp. EBIT growth 3Y > 5% 18.5%
- Net debt < 4x EBIT –
- EBIT positive, 10Y straight 0
- Max. EBIT decline < 50% –
- Return on equity > 15% -15.7%
- ROCE > 15% -13.1%
- Expected return > 10% 6.0%
View stocks with the full AAQS score · Read the methodology at AlleAktien
Source: fundamental data
The company
About the Company
Ballard Power Systems Inc. engages in the design, development, manufacture, sale, and service of proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell products. The company offers products for various applications focusing on power products for bus, truck, rail, marine, stationary, and emerging market, such as material handling, off-road, and other applications. It also engages in the delivery of services, including technology solutions, after sales services, and training, as well as offers engineering and technology transfer services. The company operates in the United States, Poland, Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom, Egypt, Spain, China, the Netherlands, Denmark, France, and internationally. Ballard Power Systems Inc. was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in Burnaby, Canada.
- Employees
- 492
- Headquarters
- Burnaby, BC
- Address
- 9000 Glenlyon Parkway, V5J 5J8 Burnaby, Canada
- Phone
- 604 454 0900
- Website
- ballard.com
- IPO Date
- 11/08/1995
- ISIN
- CA0585861085
- Stock Split
- 3:1 on 06/03/1998
Management
| Name | Title | Birth Year |
|---|---|---|
| Marty T. Neese J.D. | CEO & Director | 1962 |
| Kate Igbalode | Senior VP & CFO | – |
| Ralph Robinett | Senior VP & COO | – |
| Kate Charlton | VP Corporate Finance & Investor Relations | – |
| Kerry Brent Hillier | General Counsel & Corporate Secretary | – |
Executives per the latest required filings; titles kept in their original language. Source: fundamental data.
Data as of: September 28, 2026 · Source: fundamental data & SEC filings (annual and quarterly reports, 10-K/10-Q)
Note: pure fact-based analysis, not investment advice and not a solicitation to buy or sell. All figures without guarantee.