Bloom Energy Soars on Landmark Deal to Power AI Data Centers

Piper Sandler sees 50% upside for this renewable energy play cashing in on the AI data center power trend

Bloom Energy may be due for massive gains on the heels of its recent supply agreement with American Electric Power , according to Piper Sandler. Analyst Kashy Harrison upgraded the stock to overweight from neutral and raised his price target by $10 to $20. That reflects 50.6% upside from Thursday's close. While the stock has seen sizable gains recently, rising about 27% in the past one month, it's still fallen more than 10% this year. BE YTD mountain BE, year-to-date On Thursday, Bloom Energy announced that it reached an agreement with AEP to power artificial intelligence data centers and supply up to 1 gigawatt of its products. The company also said that AEP has ordered 100 megawatts of fuel cells, with more orders expected next year. Harrison believes the scale of the agreement - he estimates that the equipment alone could be worth $3 billion - could mean more growth opportunities for the company in the future, despite softened sentiment around the name among investors. "Despite BE's insistence that it was working on 100 MW deals and extremely bullish commentary from the [Chief Commercial Officer Aman Joshi] in a Taiwanese interview, the market has been generally skeptical on BE's ability to deliver power to large data centers given prior grand unfulfilled promises," he wrote in a Thursday note. "The 100 MW order from AEP is inline with prior commentary; however, upside potential to 1-GW is literally 10x what we were expecting," the analyst continued. "Given the endorsement of BE's technology from a large utility, agreements with other large players could materialize." With the AEP order and potential momentum from other domestic customers as catalysts for growth, Harrison expects revenue to reach $1.8 billion in 2025. The majority of the Street is bullish on the name, with 14 of the 26 analysts covering it having a strong buy or buy rating. Even though 11 of the 26 have taken a neutral stance, the average target price for the stock still implies big gains from here, reflecting more than 23% upside, as of Thursday's close.

Bloom Energy surges 70% on deal to power AI data centers By Investing.com

Investing.com -- Shares of Bloom Energy (NYSE:BE) skyrocketed 70% on Friday after the company announced a deal with American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) to supply up to 1 gigawatt (GW) of fuel cells, marking the largest commercial procurement of such technology globally. The agreement positions Bloom Energy as a key player in meeting the rising energy demands of artificial intelligence (AI) data centers. The deal includes an initial order of 100 megawatts (MW) of Bloom's solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs), with further expansions anticipated in 2025. The fuel cells will be co-located at customer sites, delivering clean, reliable, and high-density power -- capable of producing 100 MW per acre -- to support the substantial energy loads driven by AI technology. "We are thrilled to be working with AEP as they lead the charge to bring innovative solutions to the transforming electricity market," said KR Sridhar, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Bloom Energy. "With our proven track record of more than 1.3 GW deployed and a fully functional factory that can deliver GWs of products per year, we are ready and able to meet this rapid electricity demand growth." Following the news, analysts at Piper Sandler upgraded Bloom Energy to Overweight, saying the AEP deal "changes the game" for the company. Piper Sandler estimates the agreement could generate $3 billion in equipment revenue and open doors to partnerships with other utilities. The firm raised its price target for Bloom Energy to $20 per share, highlighting the potential for the company to be viewed on par with established data center equipment providers. "In our view, the scale of the agreement (we estimate equipment alone could be worth $3.0B) with a large utility provides proof of concept that BE's product can be utilized to power large-scale datacenters and could open the door to future arrangements with other utilities," wrote the firm.