Start here if you're new
what it is
Ballard sells fuel cell systems for buses, trucks, trains, ships, backup power, and engineering work tied to hydrogen adoption.
how it gets paid
Last year Ballard Power Sys made $99M in revenue.
why it's growing
Revenue grew 42.5% last year. Annual revenue was $99 million, up 42.5% vs. prior year, but gross margin was only 5.5%.
what just happened
Ballard closed 2024 with a full-year loss of -$1.08 per share, more than double 2023's -$0.48 loss.
At a glance
n/a balance sheet
50/100 earnings predictability — expect surprises
-$1.08 fy2024 eps est
$70M fy2024 rev est
1.6 beta
xvary composite: 59/100 — below average
What they do
Ballard sells fuel cell systems for buses, trucks, trains, ships, backup power, and engineering work tied to hydrogen adoption.
Ballard has been at this for decades, and 887 employees is a real operating footprint for a company worth about $718 million. Its edge is PEM fuel-cell know-how and customer relationships in heavy-duty transport, where durability matters and product failure gets very expensive very fast. You are betting that this experience matters before the cash burn matters more.
How they make money
$99M
annual revenue · their business grew +42.5% last year
total revenue
$99M
+42.5%
The products that matter
heavy-duty bus fuel-cell engines
FCmove-HD+ fuel cell engines
50 MW deal · 500 engines
this is the clearest proof customers still care. Ballard's largest announced order is a 50 MW New Flyer deal covering 500 engines, with deliveries starting in 2026.
largest announced order
core fuel-cell stack technology
Next-generation LCS fuel cell stack
cost and durability bet
the stack is the heart of every module. if Ballard can't lower system cost and improve durability here, the 5.5% gross margin problem does not go away.
margin lever
Key numbers
3%
long-term debt
Debt is only 3% of capital, so leverage is not the main problem. The business model is.
$99M
annual revenue
Revenue grew 42.5% vs. prior year, but the company still posted weak profitability. More sales without profits is volume, not victory.
-$1.08
2024 EPS
EPS → profit per share → so what: every share lost $1.08 in 2024, worse than the -$0.48 posted in 2023.
5.5%
gross margin
Gross margin → money left after production costs → so what: at 5.5%, there is barely enough room to cover everything else.
Financial health
n/a
strength
- balance sheet grade n/a
- risk rank 3 — safer than 50% of stocks
- price stability 10 / 100
- long-term debt $21M (3% of capital)
n/a — functional but not a standout on the balance sheet.
Total return vs. market
Return history isn't available for BLDP right now.
source: institutional data · return history unavailable
What just happened
missed estimates
Ballard closed 2024 with a full-year loss of -$1.08 per share, more than double 2023's -$0.48 loss.
Annual revenue was $99 million, up 42.5% vs. prior year, but gross margin was only 5.5%. Revenue growth without margin is just more work for less payoff.
$99M
revenue
-$1.08
eps
5.5%
gross margin
the number that mattered
The number that mattered was -$1.08 EPS, because losses got worse even as revenue rose 42.5%. That is the quiet part said out loud.
source: EDGAR annual report, 2024
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What could go wrong
the top risk is hydrogen fuel-cell demand scaling slower than Ballard's cash burn.
high
persistent unprofitability
Ballard lost $90.9M on $99M of revenue last year. 5.5% gross margin means the business is barely covering direct costs.
if margin does not improve, backlog converts into activity, not earnings.
med
policy and subsidy timing
hydrogen adoption depends heavily on infrastructure, incentives, and fleet economics. delays in any of those can push customer decisions out.
that would slow conversion of the $119M backlog into delivered revenue.
med
execution on the New Flyer order
the 50 MW deal for 500 engines is the flagship proof point. deliveries begin in 2026, which means investors finally get a real scorecard on timing and economics.
a messy rollout would hit credibility exactly where Ballard needs it most.
med
commercial competition without a moat
Ballard is competing in a capital-intensive market without clear scale advantage. the current page already points to rivals with faster expected growth.
if competitors commercialize faster, Ballard's backlog can start looking like a ceiling instead of a launchpad.
$119M of backlog sounds good until you put it next to a 5.5% gross margin. that's the entire risk story.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
metric
gross margin staying above Q4's 17%
one quarter at 17% is encouraging. you need to see whether Ballard can keep gross margin materially above the full-year 5.5% level.
calendar
Q1 2026 earnings
the next report needs to show whether the improved Q4 margin was progress or just a cleaner quarter mix.
trend
backlog converting into revenue
$119M of backlog is meaningful against $99M of last reported annual revenue. the key is conversion speed, not backlog headlines.
risk
New Flyer execution
deliveries begin in 2026 for the 500-engine order. if timing slips or economics disappoint, the market will notice fast.
Analyst rankings
earnings predictability
50 / 100
in human-speak, analysts think the quarterly numbers can swing around a lot. that fits a company still trying to commercialize at scale.
beta
1.6
beta measures how much a stock moves relative to the market. at 1.6, BLDP has historically moved a lot more than the index.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
institutional ownership data for BLDP is being compiled.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
n/a
n/a
$2
current price
n/a
target midpoint · n/a from current
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