The companies belonging to the Zacks Alternate Energy-Other present an attractive long-term investment opportunity as global demand for clean energy continues to rise. Green and low-carbon hydrogen are expected to play a critical role in decarbonizing hard-to-electrify sectors such as heavy industry, shipping and long-duration power generation, where battery-based technologies may be less practical. As governments strengthen emission targets and expand incentives for hydrogen infrastructure, companies capable of scaling electrolysis, storage and distribution technologies are well positioned to gain market share and secure long-term contracts.
Bloom Energy BE and FuelCell Energy FCEL are prominent players in the stationary fuel-cell market, offering on-site power systems that generate electricity through efficient electrochemical processes rather than traditional combustion methods.
Hydrogen-powered electricity generation also has the potential to address renewable energy intermittency and reduce pressure on power grids. Although the sector offers compelling long-term growth opportunities, it remains in the early stages of development. Investors may benefit from focusing on companies with proven technology partnerships, clear cost-reduction strategies and dependable offtake agreements, while also monitoring policy changes, pricing trends and execution-related risks.
Bloom Energy is well positioned to benefit from rising demand for reliable, low-carbon and on-site power solutions. Its solid oxide fuel cell technology delivers highly efficient and ultra-clean electricity, enabling businesses to reduce dependence on increasingly stressed power grids. Growing interest in green hydrogen, favorable policy support and continued advancements in Bloom Energy’s electrolyzer platform further strengthen its long-term growth prospects. As corporations and data centers increasingly prioritize reliable and sustainable backup power, Bloom Energy is expected to play a larger role in the global energy transition.
FuelCell Energy also offers investors exposure to the growing market for clean, reliable and distributed energy solutions. The company stands to benefit from increasing adoption of hydrogen production, carbon capture technologies and on-site energy systems designed to reduce grid pressure while supporting decarbonization goals. Supported by government incentives and rising corporate commitments to lowering emissions, FuelCell Energy’s ongoing technological advancements improve its ability to capitalize on long-term opportunities within the clean energy and hydrogen markets.
A closer evaluation of these companies’ fundamentals can provide deeper insight into their relative strengths and help determine which stock currently represents the more compelling investment opportunity. Both companies continue to benefit from strong backlogs, highlighting the growing acceptance of fuel-cell technology as a credible alternative to conventional power generation.
BE & FCEL’s Earnings Estimates
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for BE’s earnings per share in 2026 and 2027 implies an increase of 50.39% and 38.19%, respectively, in the past 60 days.
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The same for FCEL’s earnings per share in 2026 and 2027 remained unchanged in the past 60 days.
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Return on Invested Capital
Return on Invested Capital (“ROIC”) measures how effectively a company uses debt and equity to generate profits. It shows the return earned on each dollar invested and helps investors evaluate how efficiently management allocates capital to value-creating opportunities.
ROIC of Bloom Energy is currently pegged at 5.67% against FCEL’s negative 14.9%.
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Debt to Capital & TIE Ratio
Borrowing plays a crucial role for hydrogen fuel-cell companies, as the industry is extremely capital-intensive and still moving through early growth and commercialization stages. These firms need substantial funding for research and development, production expansion and large-scale project builds.
FCEL’s current debt to capital is 17.54% compared with BE’s 73.3%.
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The Times Interest Earned (“TIE”) ratio, commonly referred to as the Interest Coverage Ratio, evaluates a company’s ability to meet its regular interest obligations using operating earnings. At present, BE’s TIE ratio is 1.3 against FCEL's TIE of negative 16.6.
Valuation
Bloom Energy’s shares are trading at a premium compared with FuelCell Energy’s shares on a Price/Sales F12M basis.
BE’s shares are presently trading at P/S F12M of 17.86X compared with FuelCell Energy’s 6.85X.
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Price Performance
In the past year, shares of FuelCell Energy have gained 377.3% compared with Bloom Energy’s rally of 1470.2%.
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Summing Up
Bloom Energy and FuelCel Energy develop and commercialize fuel-cell and hydrogen-based energy technologies, operating within the clean power and broader alternative energy sector.
But based on the above discussion, it is evident that Bloom Energy has a marginal edge over FuelCell Energy based on better earnings estimate movement, healthier price performance in the past year and much better return on invested capital. Bloom Energy currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), while FuelCell Energy has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).