Plug Power stock dives in response to layoffs

Shares of Latham, N.Y.'s Plug Power (Nasdaq: PLUG) were down nearly 19 percent at the close of trading today in the continued response to the corporate restructuring that will cut a third of employees.

In all, the stock is down 34 percent since yesterday's news that the fuel cell technology developer plans to cut about 90 jobs to improve efficiency and revenue. The company is expected to refocus efforts on its fuel cells for vehicles and equipment, and to move away from stationary power storage.

Plug Power laid off 80 employees in June (see Can't we all just get along?). 

The announcement came a week after Plug Power inked a sizable order of fuel-cell drive-train systems for lift trucks, valued at at $3.5 million to $4 million by analyst Jeff Osborne of Thomas Weisel Partners. Plug Power plans to supply 220 GenDrives to power Central Grocers' fleet of lift trucks in Illiniois.

The GenDrive uses a Boostcap ultracapacitor developed by San Diego-based Maxwell Technologies (Nasdaq: MXWL) (see Maxwell Tech, Plug Power in fuel cell deal).

Weisel said 60 percent of the order is expected to be delivered by March, with the remainder coming before the end of 2009.

Osborne said Plug Power's fuel cells for lift trucks and vehicles were selling well, while stationary power storage was lagging. Last year, the company made an acquisition to strengthen the forklift market (see Plug Power acquires forklift fuel cell maker Cellex).

Plug Power set a goal of 150 to 200 orders for the GenDrive and 50 orders for GenCore stationary storage in the second half of 2008. In addition to the deal for 220 units for Central Grocers, Plug Power logged 44 sales of the GenDrive, but just 11 for GenCore. The GenSys power system is also failing to meet expectations (see Plug Power tests fuel cells in India).

Plug has watched its share price decline from a high of $150 per share in 2000. Last week, Thomas Weisel set a 12-month price target on the stock of $1. The stock closed today at $0.90. 

Most of Plug Power's layoffs occurred at the headquarters in positions such as engineering, shared operations and back-office work. The firm has about 125 employees remaining between the headquarters and offices in Washington, D.C.; Vancouver, Canada; and Wilmersdorf, Netherlands.

Plug Power reported a net loss of $13.8 million, or 16 cents a share, in the third-quarter of 2008—down from the net loss of $15.2 million or 17 cents a share, in the third quarter of 2007. Revenue for the three months was $4.1 million, down from $4.5 million in 2007.