Is the Move in Plug Power Sustainable?

Plug Power Inc. (NASDAQ: PLUG) has been a roller-coaster stock. Within the past 18 months it has traded around $10 and around $1.50. Investors are getting excited again and the stock is taking over a 10% jump in Monday’s session. This is going against the downward trend that shares have been on over the course of the year.

Currently there is speculation that Plug may have future deals in the works with Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD). The home improvement retailing giant just opened a new distribution facility that featured over 170 Plug Power GenDrive fuel cells. The kicker is that the CEO of Plug, Andy Marsh, was present at the opening of this facility, perhaps to oversee the unveiling and see his machines at work.

Speculatively, Mr. Marsh may also have been present at the opening to talk shop as there are many more Home Depot distribution facilities that could take more of Plug’s fuel cells. At this point its only speculation until an announcement is made.

Recently Plug’s shortsellers have been at their highest levels in 2015. For the most recent settlement date, Plug saw its short interest back off slightly to 33.96 million with 8.1 days to cover. The previous level was 34.2 million shares with nearly 10 days to cover.

This move appears to be a surprise to most and out-of-the-norm in terms of how the shares have performed this year. So far in 2015 Plug shares have drastically underperformed the market and the stock is down 37% year to date, while over the past 52-weeks shares are down over 56%.

Shares of Plug were up 16.9% at $2.21 on Friday afternoon. The stock has a consensus analyst price target of $3.15 and a 52-week trading range of $1.56 to $5.48.

Home Depot shares were up 1.4% at $116.65 on its 52-week trading range of $86.35 to $123.80. The stock has a consensus analyst price target of $131.61.

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