Weekly Synthesis: Feedback on Recent Investor Meetings; PLUG Time Crunch

Research evidence excerpt

Weekly Synthesis: Feedback on Recent Investor Meetings; PLUG Time Crunch

by June 30 would allow either PLUG or Stream to terminate the transaction. PLUG's 2026 operating plan

is dependent on the proceeds from this transaction, so any incremental delays or termination of

the transaction could necessitate additional equity issuance.

3) Ford Formally Unveils Energy Storage Business, Ford Energy. The move formalizes Ford’s pivot

to redeploy underutilized EV-related capacity into the faster-growing ESS market. Ford's KY EV site will

be converted to produce LFP battery cells with technology licensed from CATL, and it appears

Ford will move downstream as well with an integrated product as it will also assemble modules

and containers and offer service support. Ford confirmed its product will comply with necessary ITC

requirements (i.e., FEOC compliance) and will meet domestic content standards. As it relates to our

coverage from a competitive standpoint, we think FLNC currently views Ford and other automakers'

push into BESS as additive to a diversified U.S. cell supply rather than disruptive to existing downstream

product offerings and will take time for their downstream solutions to scale. Ford is targeting 20 GWhs

of capacity with first deliveries planned for late 2027.

As we highlighted when Ford first disclosed its push into grid-scale ESS (see here), we suspect the

company will have to procure power electronics components including inverters, other grid

hardware, and controls from third-party suppliers which we think has important implications for

its competitiveness in the data center market. Recall until recently FLNC had been behind others, such

as TSLA for example, with its data center ESS offering due to response time limitations of its system’s

inverter.