Why Plug Power Stock Soared Today
Key Points
A fuel cell peer reported an auspicious new partnership yesterday.
Plug reported year-over-year gross margin improvement in Q1 2026.
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After ending Wednesday's market session at the same level where it settled on Tuesday, shares of Plug Power (NASDAQ: PLUG) rocketed notably higher today. While those familiar with the fuel cell and hydrogen stock likely surmised that the company had announced an encouraging new deal -- or something else of note -- the reality is that the company had nothing positive to share. Instead, it was the news of a deal between a fuel cell peer and an artificial intelligence (AI) company that drove investors to click the buy button on Plug stock today.
Shares of Plug Power ended today's trading session at $3.78, a 14.2% rise over yesterday's close.
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It's not only nuclear that's drawing interest from operators of AI data centers
Fuel cell specialist Bloom Energy (NYSE: BE) and Nebius, a leading AI company, announced a deal yesterday after the market closed. Bloom Energy will deploy its fuel cell technology to support the high-power demands of Nebius's AI cloud infrastructure.
Expected to commence operations in 2026, the first of Nebius's projects that will use Bloom's fuel cells will have 328 megawatts (MW) of installed capacity, and there's potential for the relationship to grow even further. Speaking to the merits of Bloom's fuel cell offering, Andrey Korolenko, Nebius's chief product and infrastructure officer, stated, "We expect to put this technology to work alongside our infrastructure as we continue to scale our capacity."
Is now the time for investors to power their portfolios with Plug stock?
In the absence of any news from the company, investors likely bid Plug stock higher today after speculating that AI data center operators will also choose to partner with Plug for future data center projects.
Savvy investors, however, recognize there are better reasons to consider Plug stock right now. Plug has been making progress toward profitability. In Q1 2026, it reported a gross margin of negative 13% compared to negative 55% in the same period last year. This improvement in its financial health is certainly encouraging and provides a better foundation for an investing thesis.
Should you buy stock in Plug Power right now?
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Scott Levine has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bloom Energy. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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