PLUG POWER INC (PLUG) FY 2024 MD&A
This page reproduces the company's own Item 7 MD&A text from the linked SEC filing. It is filer text, not grepcent analysis, scoring, or investment advice.
Overview
Plug is facilitating the paradigm shift to an increasingly electrified world by innovating cutting-edge hydrogen and fuel cell solutions.
While we continue to develop commercially viable hydrogen and fuel cell product solutions, we have expanded our offerings to support a variety of commercial operations that can be powered with clean hydrogen. We provide electrolyzers that allow customers — such as refineries, producers of chemicals, steel, fertilizer and commercial refueling stations — to generate hydrogen on-site. We are focusing our efforts on (a) industrial mobility applications, including electric forklifts and electric industrial vehicles, at multi-shift high volume manufacturing and high throughput distribution sites where we believe our products and services provide a unique combination of productivity, flexibility, and environmental benefits; (b) production of hydrogen; and (c) stationary power systems that will support critical operations, such as data centers, microgrids, and generation facilities, in either a backup power or continuous power role, and replace batteries, diesel generators or the grid for telecommunication logistics, transportation, and utility customers. Plug expects to support these products and customers with an ecosystem of vertically integrated products that produce, transport, store and handle, dispense, and use hydrogen for mobility and power applications.
Our current product and service portfolio includes:
GenDrive: GenDrive is our hydrogen fueled PEM fuel cell system, providing power to material handling EVs, including Class 1, 2, 3 and 6 electric forklifts, automated guided vehicles, and ground support equipment.
GenSure: GenSure is our stationary fuel cell solution providing scalable, modular PEM fuel cell power to support the backup and grid-support power requirements of the telecommunications, transportation, and utility sectors; our GenSure High Power Fuel Cell Platform supports large scale stationary power and data center markets.
Progen: Progen is our fuel cell stack and engine technology currently used globally in mobility and stationary fuel cell systems. This includes Plug’s membrane electrode assembly (“MEA”), a critical component of the fuel cell stack used in zero-emission fuel cell systems.
GenFuel: GenFuel is our liquid hydrogen fueling, delivery, generation, storage, and dispensing system.
GenCare: GenCare is our ongoing “Internet of Things”-based maintenance and on-site service program for GenDrive fuel cell systems, GenSure fuel cell systems, GenFuel hydrogen storage and dispensing products and Progen fuel cell engines.
GenKey: GenKey is our vertically integrated “turn-key” solution combining either GenDrive or GenSure fuel cell power with GenFuel fuel and GenCare aftermarket service, offering complete simplicity to customers transitioning to fuel cell power.
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Electrolyzers: The design and implementation of 5MW and 10MW electrolyzer systems that are modular, scalable hydrogen generators optimized for clean hydrogen production. Electrolyzers generate hydrogen from water using electricity and a special membrane and “green” hydrogen is generated by using renewable energy inputs, such as solar or wind power.
Liquefaction Systems: Plug’s 15 ton-per-day and 30 ton-per-day liquefiers are engineered for high efficiency, reliability, and operational flexibility — providing consistent liquid hydrogen to customers. This design increases plant reliability and availability while minimizing parasitic losses like heat leak and seal gas losses.
Cryogenic Equipment: Engineered equipment including trailers and mobile storage equipment for the distribution of liquified hydrogen, oxygen, argon, nitrogen and other cryogenic gases.
Liquid Hydrogen: Liquid hydrogen provides an efficient fuel alternative to fossil-based energy. We produce liquid hydrogen through our electrolyzer systems and liquefaction systems. Liquid hydrogen supply will be used by customers in material handling operations, fuel cell electric vehicle fleets, and stationary power applications.
We provide our products and solutions worldwide through our direct sales force, and by leveraging relationships with original equipment manufacturers (“OEMs”) and their dealer networks. Plug is currently targeting Asia, Australia, Europe, Middle East and North America for expansion in adoption. The European Union (the “EU”) has rolled out ambitious targets for the hydrogen economy, with the United Kingdom also taking steps in this direction, and Plug is seeking to execute on our strategy to become one of the European leaders in the hydrogen economy. This includes a targeted account strategy for material handling, securing strategic partnerships with European OEMs, energy companies, utility leaders and accelerating our electrolyzer business.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
A summary of our consolidated sources and uses of cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash was as follows (in thousands):
| | | | | | | | | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | | Year ended | |||||||
| | December 31, 2024 | December 31, 2023 | December 31, 2022 | ||||||
| Net cash (used in) provided by: | | | | | | | | | |
| Operating activities | | $ | (728,643) | | $ | (1,106,570) | | $ | (828,623) |
| Investing activities | | | (402,364) | | | 728,052 | | | (679,370) |
| Financing activities | | | 983,170 | | | 6,117 | | | (77,457) |
| | | $ | (147,837) | | $ | (372,401) | | $ | (1,585,450) |
Operating Activities
The net cash used in operating activities for the year ended December 31, 2024 and 2023 was $728.6 million and $1.1 billion, respectively. This decrease in net cash used in operating activities was primarily due to cash inflows related to the Company’s accounts receivables and inventory, partially offset by an increase in net loss, a decrease in accounts payable, accrued expenses, and other liabilities and a decrease in deferred revenue and other contract liabilities.
Investing Activities
The net cash (used in)/provided by investing activities for the year ended December 31, 2024 and 2023 was ($402.4) million and $728.1 million, respectively. The change from cash inflow to cash outflow from investing activities was primarily due to a decrease in proceeds from sales and maturities of available-for-sale securities during the year ended December 31, 2024 as the Company no longer holds available-for-sale securities.
Financing Activities
The net cash provided by financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2024 and 2023 was $983.2 million and $6.1 million, respectively. The increase in cash provided by financing activities was primarily driven by proceeds from the At Market Issuance Sales Agreement, as amended (as described below), with B. Riley Securities, Inc. (“B. Riley”)
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and proceeds from the convertible debenture during the year ended December 31, 2024, partially offset by a decrease in proceeds from finance obligations.
The Company has continued to experience negative cash flows from operations and net losses. The Company incurred net losses of approximately $2.1 billion, $1.4 billion and $724.0 million for the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively, and had an accumulated deficit of $6.6 billion as of December 31, 2024. The Company’s working capital was $729.0 million at December 31, 2024, which included unrestricted cash and cash equivalents of $205.7 million and current restricted cash of $198.0 million.
The future use of our available liquidity will be based upon the ongoing review of the funding needs of our businesses, the optimal allocation of our resources, and the timing of cash flow generation. To the extent that we desire to access alternative sources of capital, market conditions could adversely impact our ability to do so at that time and at terms favorable to the Company.
The Company has an “at-the-market” equity offering program with B. Riley pursuant to which the Company may, from time to time, offer and sell through or to B. Riley, as sales agent or principal, shares of the Company’s common stock, having an aggregate gross sales price of up to $1.0 billion under a sales agreement. The Company has the right at its sole discretion to direct B. Riley to act on a principal basis and purchase directly from the Company up to $11.0 million of shares of its common stock on any trading day if the Company’s market capitalization is more than $1.0 billion (or up to $10.0 million if the Company’s market capitalization is less than $1.0 billion) and up to $55.0 million of shares in any calendar week if the Company’s market capitalization is more than $1.0 billion (or up to $30.0 million if the Company’s market capitalization is less than $1.0 billion). On February 23, 2024 and November 7, 2024, the Company and B. Riley amended the at-the-market equity program to increase the aggregate offering price of shares of common stock available for issuance under the program to $1.0 billion. The amended program will terminate upon the earliest of (a) December 31, 2025 with respect to principal transactions and January 17, 2026 with respect to agency transactions, (b) the sale of all shares of common stock under the program or (c) termination of the sales agreement. During the year ended December 31, 2024, the Company issued 219,835,221 shares of its common stock at a weighted-average sales price of $3.08 per share for net proceeds of $666.9 million under the ATM agreement.
On July 22, 2024, the Company sold 78,740,157 shares of its common stock at a public offering price of $2.54 per share for net proceeds of $191.0 million after deducting the underwriting discount and related offering expenses.
On November 11, 2024, the Company entered into a Debenture Purchase Agreement (the “Debenture Purchase Agreement”) with YA II PN, Ltd., an investment fund managed by Yorkville Advisors Global, LP (“Yorkville”), pursuant to which the Company issued to Yorkville an unsecured convertible debenture in aggregate principal amount of $200.0 million in exchange for the payment of $190.0 million. For more information, see Note 17, “Convertible Senior Notes”.
In addition, on February 10, 2025, the Company entered into a Standby Equity Purchase Agreement with Yorkville (the “SEPA”), pursuant to which the Company has the right, at its option, to sell to Yorkville up to $1.0 billion in the aggregate gross sales of its common stock, subject to certain limitations and conditions set forth therein. The Company has the right, but not the obligation, from time to time at its sole discretion to direct Yorkville to purchase directly from the Company up to $10.0 million shares of its common stock on any trading day.
On March 3, 2025, the Company announced the 2025 Restructuring Plan. The 2025 Restructuring Plan includes initiatives to reduce our workforce, realign the Company’s manufacturing footprint and streamline the organization to enhance operational efficiency and improve overall liquidity. The expected annual savings from the 2025 Restructuring Plan are expected to be significant and will begin to be realized beginning in the second half of 2025.
The Company believes that its working capital, cash position and restricted cash to be released over the next 12 months, together with its right to direct B. Riley to purchase shares from the Company under the “at-the-market” equity offering program and its right to direct Yorkville to purchase shares from the Company under the SEPA, will be sufficient to fund its on-going operations for a period of at least 12 months subsequent to the issuance of the accompanying consolidated financial statements.
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The Company’s significant obligations consisted of the following as of December 31, 2024:
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | Operating and finance leases totaling $313.4 million and $35.6 million, respectively, of which $71.3 million and $12.8 million, respectively, are due within the next 12 months. These leases are primarily related to sale/leaseback agreements entered into with various financial institutions to facilitate the Company’s commercial transactions with key customers. |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | Finance obligations totaling $347.4 million, of which approximately $83.1 million is due within the next 12 months. Finance obligations consist primarily of debt associated with the sale of future revenues and failed sale/leaseback transactions. |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | Convertible senior notes totaling $379.3 million, of which $58.3 million is due within the next twelve months. See Note 17, “Convertible Senior Notes”, for more details. |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | Capital commitments totaling $4.6 million related to the Company’s equity method investments, of which all $4.6 million is due within the next 12 months. See Note 4, “Investments”, for more details. |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | Future payments under non-cancelable unconditional purchase obligations with a remaining term in excess of one year totaling $156.5 million, of which $40.9 million is due within the next 12 months. See Note 23, “Commitments and Contingencies”, for more details. |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | Contingent consideration with an estimated fair value of approximately $60.7 million, of which $29.0 million is due within the next 12 months. See Note 5, “Fair Value Measurements”, for more details. |
SEC Settlement
On August 30, 2023, the Company reached a settlement of a civil administrative proceeding with the SEC related to the Company’s restatement of its previously issued financial statements as of and for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, and as of and for each of the quarterly periods ended March 31, 2020 and 2019, June 30, 2020 and 2019, and September 30, 2020 and 2019. The Company, without admitting or denying the findings, agreed to a cease-and-desist order regarding Sections 13(a), 13(b)(2)(A), and 13(b)(2)(B) of the Exchange Act and Rules 13a-1, 13a-13, and 13a-15(a) - (c) thereunder. As part of the settlement, the Company paid a civil monetary penalty to the SEC in the amount of $1.25 million on September 20, 2023. On August 30, 2024, the Company certified with the SEC staff that the Company completed the undertakings set forth in the SEC settlement, which included fully remediating its material weaknesses. After reviewing the evidence of compliance provided by the Company, the SEC found that the evidence provided satisfied the undertaking requirement.
Restructuring Plans
In February 2024, in a strategic move to enhance the Company’s financial performance and ensure long-term value creation in a competitive market, the Company approved the 2024 Restructuring Plan, a comprehensive initiative that encompassed a broad range of measures, including operational consolidation, strategic workforce adjustments, and various other cost-saving actions. In March 2025, the Company approved another initiative, the 2025 Restructuring Plan, which included initiatives to reduce the Company’s workforce, realign the Company’s manufacturing footprint and streamline the organization to enhance operational efficiency and improve overall liquidity. The expected annual savings from the 2025 Restructuring Plan are expected to be significant and will begin to be realized beginning in the second half of 2025.
Department of Energy Loan Guarantee
On May 14, 2024, the U.S. Department of Energy (the “DOE”) issued a conditional commitment letter to the Company and a wholly owned indirect subsidiary of the Company for a loan guarantee of up to $1.66 billion through the DOE’s Loan Programs Office to finance the development, construction, and ownership of up to six green hydrogen production facilities. On January 16, 2025, the Company closed its loan guarantee from the DOE that is intended to support the Company’s domestic hydrogen production plant buildout. The approval and funding of any disbursements of the loan guarantee will be subject to the satisfaction of conditions precedent, including, but not limited to, evidence of satisfaction
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of certain technical and performance related conditions precedent, adequate project funding, reports from certain technical consultants and advisors, and the receipt of certain financial models demonstrating compliance with the financial covenants set forth in the loan guarantee agreement. There can be no assurance that the Company will be able to secure such a loan or on terms that are acceptable to the Company. See Item 1A, “Risk Factors”, for a description of risks related to the DOE loan guarantee.
Inflation, Material Availability and Labor Shortages
Most components essential to our business are generally available from multiple sources; however, we believe there are some component suppliers and manufacturing vendors, particularly those suppliers and vendors that supply materials in very limited supply worldwide or supply commodities that have a high degree of volatility, whose loss to us or general unavailability could have a material adverse effect upon our business and financial condition. For example, although we believe the liquid hydrogen supply challenges of the past may have lessened in recent months, we may again experience similar challenges relating to the availability of hydrogen, including but not limited to suppliers utilizing force majeure provisions under existing contracts as they have in the past, which could negatively impact the amount of hydrogen we are able to provide under certain of our hydrogen supply agreements and other customer agreements. Furthermore, global commodity pricing has been volatile and has been influenced by political events and worldwide economic trends, which has impacted our sourcing strategies, resulting in adverse impacts on our business and financial condition. We have mitigated and are continuing to mitigate these risks by continuing to diversify our supply chain, including diversifying our global supply chain and implementing alternate system architectures that we expect will allow us to source from multiple fuel cell, electrolyzer stack and air supply component vendors. While we continue to invest in our supply chain to improve its resilience with a focus on automation, dual sourcing of critical components, insourcing and localized manufacturing when feasible, we are also working closely with these vendors and other key suppliers on coordinated product introduction plans, product and sales forecasting, strategic inventories, and internal and external manufacturing schedules and levels. However, ongoing changes to, and evolution of, our products designs such as simultaneous design/build efforts and new product serviceability trends, or incorrect forecasting or updates to previously forecasted volumes could present challenges to those strategies despite best efforts in leveraging supplier relationships and capabilities. With respect to production, although cost pressures from global energy prices and inflation have been less volatile than previous years, an increase in cost pressures or a rise in inflation could negatively affect our business again, which could have a pricing impact on our key raw materials. We have a regionally diverse supply chain, and in cases where we have single sourced suppliers (typically due to new technology and products or worldwide shortages due to global demand), we work to engineer alternatives in our product design or develop new supply sources while covering short- and medium-term risks with supply contracts, building up inventory, and development partnerships. However, if we are unable to reduce such inventory, that could tie up working capital.
We continue to take proactive steps through our supply chain team to limit the impact of supplier challenges generally and we continue to work closely with our suppliers and transportation vendors to ensure availability of products and implement other cost savings initiatives. In addition, we have continued discussions with suppliers with respect to the terms of our supply agreements, and the outcome of such discussions, including whether those discussions yield the desired modifications in the terms of such supply agreements, may impact the timing of when we receive shipments of certain supplies or result in other supply chain issues.
With respect to our service business, we have experienced inflationary increases in labor, parts and related overhead. This has contributed to the increase in our estimated projected costs to service fuel cell systems and related infrastructure, which resulted in an increase in the provision for loss contracts related to service. If these trends continue, we may have to record additional service loss provisions in the future. We anticipate bookings and revenue will be uneven in the near-term while we pursue sales opportunities.
Additionally, we, as well as our suppliers and vendors, have observed an increasingly competitive labor market. Tight labor markets have resulted in longer times to fill open positions for us and our suppliers and vendors. Increased employee turnover, reassessment of employee responsibilities given current business needs, changes in the availability of our workers as well as labor shortages have resulted in, and could continue to result in, increased costs which could negatively affect our component or raw material purchasing abilities, and in turn, our financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows.
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Results of Operations
Our primary sources of revenue are from sales of equipment, related infrastructure and other, services performed on fuel cell systems and related infrastructure, power purchase agreements, and fuel delivered to customers and related equipment. A certain portion of our sales result from acquisitions in legacy markets, which we are working to transition to renewable solutions. Revenue from sales of equipment, related infrastructure and other represents sales of our GenDrive units, GenSure stationary backup power units, cryogenic stationary and on road storage, hydrogen liquefaction systems, electrolyzers and hydrogen fueling infrastructure. Revenue from services performed on fuel cell systems and related infrastructure represents revenue earned on our service and maintenance contracts and sales of spare parts. Revenue from power purchase agreements primarily represent payments received from customers who make monthly payments to access the Company’s GenKey solution. Revenue associated with fuel delivered to customers and related equipment represents the sale of hydrogen to customers that has been purchased by the Company from a third party or generated at our hydrogen production plants.
Provision for Common Stock Warrants
On August 24, 2022, the Company issued to Amazon.com NV Investment Holdings LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Amazon (“Amazon”), a warrant (the “Amazon Warrant”) to acquire up to 16,000,000 shares of the Company’s common stock, subject to certain vesting events described below under “Common Stock Transactions – Amazon Transaction Agreement in 2022”.
In 2017, in separate transactions, the Company issued a warrant to each of Amazon and Walmart to purchase up to 55,286,696 shares of the Company’s common stock, subject to certain vesting events described below under “Common Stock Transactions – Amazon Transaction Agreement in 2017” and “Common Stock Transactions – Walmart Transaction Agreement”. The Company recorded a portion of the estimated fair value of the warrants as a reduction of revenue based upon the projected number of shares of common stock expected to vest under the warrants, the proportion of purchases by Amazon, Walmart and their affiliates within the period relative to the aggregate purchase levels required for vesting of the respective warrants, and the then-current fair value of the warrants.
The amount of provision for the Amazon and Walmart warrants recorded as a reduction of revenue during the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively, is shown in the table below (in thousands):
| | | | | | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | | Year ended | ||||
| | December 31, 2024 | December 31, 2023 | ||||
| Sales of equipment, related infrastructure and other | | $ | (4,812) | | $ | (566) |
| Services performed on fuel cell systems and related infrastructure | | (4,883) | | (1,194) | ||
| Power purchase agreements | | (7,465) | | (3,817) | ||
| Fuel delivered to customers and related equipment | | (21,824) | | (5,632) | ||
| Total | | $ | (38,984) | | $ | (11,209) |
Net revenue, cost of revenue, gross profit/(loss) and gross margin/(loss) for the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023 were as follows (in thousands):
| | | | | | | | | | | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | | | | Cost of | Gross | Gross | | ||||
| | Net Revenue | | Revenue | | Profit/(Loss) | | Margin/(Loss) | ||||
| For the year ended December 31, 2024: | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Sales of equipment, related infrastructure and other | $ | 390,335 | | $ | 696,087 | | $ | (305,752) | (78.3) | % | |
| Services performed on fuel cell systems and related infrastructure | 52,169 | | 57,766 | | (5,597) | (10.7) | % | ||||
| Provision for loss contracts related to service | | — | | | 48,539 | | | (48,539) | | N/A | |
| Power purchase agreements | 77,842 | | 216,947 | | (139,105) | (178.7) | % | ||||
| Fuel delivered to customers and related equipment | 97,882 | | 228,827 | | (130,945) | (133.8) | % | ||||
| Other | 10,586 | | 5,535 | | 5,051 | 47.7 | % | ||||
| Total | $ | 628,814 | | $ | 1,253,701 | | $ | (624,887) | (99.4) | % | |
| For the year ended December 31, 2023: | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Sales of equipment, related infrastructure and other | $ | 711,433 | | $ | 765,575 | | $ | (54,142) | (7.6) | % | |
| Services performed on fuel cell systems and related infrastructure | 39,093 | | 75,412 | | (36,319) | (92.9) | % | ||||
| Provision for loss contracts related to service | | — | | | 86,346 | | | (86,346) | | N/A | |
| Power purchase agreements | 63,731 | | 218,936 | | (155,205) | (243.5) | % | ||||
| Fuel delivered to customers and related equipment | 66,246 | | 246,318 | | (180,072) | (271.8) | % | ||||
| Other | 10,837 | | 6,544 | | 4,293 | 39.6 | % | ||||
| Total | $ | 891,340 | | $ | 1,399,131 | | $ | (507,791) | (57.0) | % |
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Net Revenue
Revenue — sales of equipment, related infrastructure and other. Revenue from sales of equipment, related infrastructure and other represents sales of our GenDrive units, GenSure stationary backup power units, cryogenic stationary and on road storage, hydrogen liquefaction systems, electrolyzers and hydrogen fueling infrastructure referred to at the site level as hydrogen installations. Revenue from sales of equipment, related infrastructure and other for the year ended December 31, 2024 decreased $321.1 million, or 45.1%, to $390.3 million from $711.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 primarily due to decreases in revenue related to hydrogen site installations, liquefiers, cryogenic equipment, and fuel cell systems. The decrease in the revenue related to sales of cryogenic storage equipment and liquefiers of $120.2 million was primarily due to product mix with respect to cryogenic equipment, fewer projects and a slower rate of progress on existing liquefier projects as they near completion compared to the year ended December 31, 2023. Revenue related to sales of fuel cell systems decreased $129.1 million, primarily due to a decrease in the volume of GenDrive units sold, with 3,119 units sold during the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to 6,392 units sold during the year ended December 31, 2023. The decrease in hydrogen infrastructure revenue of $114.5 million was primarily due to volume, with 15 hydrogen site installations for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to 52 for the year ended December 31, 2023. Additionally, there was a decrease of $10.3 million related to the sales of engineered oil and gas equipment from the Frames acquisition, for which sales are not expected to continue beyond current commitments. Furthermore, the pace of development of the hydrogen economy has been slower than anticipated and has impacted hydrogen equipment deployments. Finally, there was an increase in the provision for common stock warrants recorded as a reduction of revenue, which increased to $4.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to $0.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2023. Partially offsetting these decreases was an increase in revenue related to electrolyzers of $53.0 million, primarily due to 153 one megawatt equivalent units sold for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to 133 one megawatt equivalent units sold for the year ended December 31, 2023. Included in the 153 one megawatt equivalent units sold for the year ended December 31, 2024 were 29 electrolyzer systems sold compared to two electrolyzer systems sold during the year ended December 31, 2023.
Revenue — services performed on fuel cell systems and related infrastructure. Revenue from services performed on fuel cell systems and related infrastructure represents revenue earned on our service and maintenance contracts and sales of spare parts. Revenue from services performed on fuel cell systems and related infrastructure for the year ended December 31, 2024 increased $13.1 million, or 33.5%, to $52.2 million from $39.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2023. The increase in revenue from services performed on fuel cell systems and related infrastructure was primarily due to the increase in pricing of our service agreements and incidental billings. In addition, the average number of GenDrive units under maintenance contracts increased to 21,897 during the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to 20,336 during the year ended December 31, 2023. Partially offsetting this increase in revenue was an increase in the provision for common stock warrants recorded as a reduction of revenue, which increased to $4.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to $1.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2023.
Revenue — Power purchase agreements. Revenue from PPAs represents payments received from customers for power generated through the provision of equipment and service. Revenue from PPAs for the year ended December 31, 2024 increased $14.1 million, or 22.1%, to $77.8 million from $63.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2023. The increase in revenue was a result of an increase in the average number of units and customer sites party to these agreements. There was an average of 31,763 GenDrive units under PPAs generating revenue in 2024, compared to 30,626 in 2023. In addition, the average number of hydrogen sites under PPA arrangements was 147 in 2024, compared to 132 in 2023. Furthermore, pricing rates were favorable during the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to the year ended December 31, 2023. Partially offsetting this increase in revenue was an increase in the provision for common stock warrants recorded as a reduction of revenue, which increased to $7.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to $3.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2023.
Revenue — fuel delivered to customers and related equipment. Revenue associated with fuel and related equipment delivered to customers represents the sale of hydrogen that has been purchased by the Company from a third party or generated at our hydrogen production plants. Revenue associated with fuel delivered to customers for the year ended December 31, 2024 increased $31.7 million, or 47.9%, to $97.9 million from $66.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2023. The increase in revenue was primarily due to an increase in the number of sites with fuel contracts, which increased by approximately 15 sites during the year ended December 31, 2024. Furthermore, increased fuel prices were negotiated with certain customers during the second quarter of 2024. Partially offsetting this increase in revenue was an increase in the provision for common stock warrants recorded as a reduction of revenue, which increased to $21.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to $5.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2023.
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Cost of Revenue
Cost of revenue — sales of equipment, related infrastructure and other. Cost of revenue from sales of equipment, related infrastructure and other includes direct materials, labor costs, and allocated overhead costs related to the manufacture of our fuel cells such as GenDrive units and GenSure stationary back-up power units, cryogenic stationary and on road storage, and electrolyzers, as well as hydrogen fueling infrastructure referred to at the site level as hydrogen installations. Cost of revenue from sales of equipment, related infrastructure and other for the year ended December 31, 2024 decreased $69.5 million, or 9.1%, to $696.1 million compared to $765.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 primarily due to decreases in cost of revenue related to hydrogen site installations, liquefiers, cryogenic equipment, and fuel cell systems.
The decrease in cost of revenue related to sales of hydrogen infrastructure of $82.3 million was primarily due to volume, with 15 hydrogen site installations during the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to 52 during the year ended December 31, 2023. Included in cost of revenue related to sales of hydrogen infrastructure were inventory valuation adjustments of $4.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to $5.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2023.
The decrease in cost of revenue related to cryogenic storage equipment and liquefiers of $83.1 million was primarily due to product mix with respect to cryogenic equipment and fewer projects and a slower rate of progress on existing liquefier projects as they near completion compared to the year ended December 31, 2023. Included in cost of revenue related to sales of cryogenic storage equipment and liquefiers were inventory valuation adjustments of $4.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to $1.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2023.
The cost of revenue related to sales of fuel cell systems decreased by $15.5 million primarily due to a decrease in the volume of GenDrive units sold, with 3,119 units sold during the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to 6,392 units sold during the year ended December 31, 2023. Included in cost of revenue related to sales of fuel cell systems were inventory valuation adjustments of $79.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to $24.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2023. The increases in inventory valuation adjustments were primarily related to lower sales volume at lower sales prices than previously experienced which resulted in higher lower of cost or realizable valuation adjustments.
Finally, there was a decrease in cost of revenue of $8.9 million related to a decrease in sales of engineered equipment from the Frames acquisition, for which sales are not expected to continue beyond current commitments.
Partially offsetting these decreases was an increase in cost of revenue related to sales of electrolyzer stacks and systems of $120.3 million primarily due to volume, with 153 one megawatt equivalent units sold for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to 133 one megawatt equivalent units sold for the year ended December 31, 2023. Included in the 153 one megawatt equivalent units sold for the year ended December 31, 2024 were 29 electrolyzer systems sold compared to two electrolyzer systems sold during the year ended December 31, 2023. Included in cost of revenue related to sales of electrolyzer stacks and systems were inventory valuation adjustments of $80.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to $55.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2023. The increases in inventory valuation adjustments were primarily related to additional costs incurred during the year ended December 31, 2024 as projects neared completion requiring additional lower of cost or net realizable valuation adjustments.
The gross loss generated from sales of equipment, related infrastructure and other increased to (78.3%) for the year ended December 31, 2024, compared to (7.6%) for the year ended December 31, 2023. The increase in gross loss was primarily due to inventory valuation adjustments described above, customer mix, lower margins on new product offerings and decline in volume which impacted leveraging of labor and overhead during 2024.
Cost of revenue — services performed on fuel cell systems and related infrastructure. Cost of revenue from services performed on fuel cell systems and related infrastructure includes the labor, material costs and allocated overhead costs incurred for our product service and hydrogen site maintenance contracts and spare parts. Cost of revenue from services performed on fuel cell systems and related infrastructure for the year ended December 31, 2024 decreased $17.6 million, or 23.3%, to $57.8 million compared to $75.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2023. The decrease in cost of revenue was primarily due to an increase in the release of the loss accrual, with a release of $51.6 million during the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to a release of $29.7 million during the year ended December 31, 2023. Included in cost of revenue related to services performed on fuel cell systems and related infrastructure were inventory valuation
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adjustments of $0.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to $0.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2023. Gross loss decreased to (10.7%) for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to (92.9)% for the year ended December 31, 2023. The decrease in gross loss was primarily due to an increase in negotiated contract rates discussed above, as well as an increase in the release of the loss accrual during the year ended December 31, 2024.
Cost of revenue — provision for loss contracts related to service. The Company recorded a provision for loss accrual during 2024 of $48.5 million, a decrease of $37.8 million compared to the provision for loss accrual of $86.3 million as of December 31, 2023. The Company decreased the provision primarily due to improved pricing structure and reduction of new GenDrive deployments in 2024, partially offset by an increase in the provision related to stationary systems.
Cost of revenue — Power purchase agreements. Cost of revenue from PPAs includes depreciation of assets utilized and service costs to fulfill PPA obligations and interest costs associated with certain financial institutions for leased equipment. Cost of revenue from PPAs for the year ended December 31, 2024 decreased $2.0 million, or 0.9%, to $216.9 million from $218.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2023. The increase in cost was primarily a result of an increase in the average number of units and customer sites party to these agreements. There was an average of 31,763 GenDrive units under PPAs during the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to 30,626 during the year ended December 31, 2023. The average number of hydrogen sites under PPA arrangements was 147 during the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to 132 during the year ended December 31, 2023. Gross loss decreased to (178.7%) for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to (243.5)% for the year ended December 31, 2023. The decrease in gross loss was primarily due to improved pricing.
Cost of revenue — fuel delivered to customers and related equipment. Cost of revenue from fuel delivered to customers and related equipment represents the purchase of hydrogen from suppliers and internally produced hydrogen that is ultimately sold to customers. Cost of revenue from fuel delivered to customers for the year ended December 31, 2024 decreased $17.5 million, or 7.1%, to $228.8 million from $246.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2023. The decrease was primarily due to lower costs of purchased fuel, an increase in fuel internally produced by the Company, which is inherently lower in cost, as well as a recognition of the clean hydrogen production tax credit (“PTC”) of $4.0 million. Included in cost of revenue related to fuel delivered to customers and related equipment were inventory valuation adjustments of $3.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to $6.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2023. Gross loss decreased to (133.8%) during the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to (271.8)% during the year ended December 31, 2023, primarily due to favorable fuel rates negotiated with certain customers, lower costs of purchased fuel, an increase in fuel internally produced by the Company and the decrease in inventory valuation adjustments described above.
Expenses
Research and development. Research and development expenses include: materials to build development and prototype units, cash and non-cash compensation and benefits for the engineering and related staff, expenses for contract engineers, fees paid to consultants for services provided, materials and supplies consumed, facility related costs such as computer and network services, and other general overhead costs associated with our research and development activities. Research and development expense for the year ended December 31, 2024 decreased $36.5 million, or 32.1%, to $77.2 million from $113.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2023. The decrease was primarily due to headcount reductions as well as a decrease in component materials which are used for testing, prototypes and proof of concept.
Selling, general and administrative. Selling, general and administrative expenses include cash and non-cash compensation, benefits, amortization of intangible assets and related costs in support of our general corporate functions, including general management, finance and accounting, human resources, selling and marketing, information technology and legal services. Selling, general and administrative expenses for the year ended December 31, 2024 decreased $46.4 million, or 11.0%, to $376.1 million from $422.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2023. The decrease was primarily due to a decrease in stock compensation expense related to stock compensation forfeitures resulting from the 2024 Restructuring Plan announced in February 2024 as well as certain market-condition awards nearing the end of their vesting period and reduction in spend as a result of cost cutting initiatives, partially offset by an increase in the allowance for credit losses on accounts receivable.
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Restructuring. Expenses related to the 2024 Restructuring Plan for the year ended December 31, 2024 was $8.2 million. The increase was due to severance and benefits related to the 2024 Restructuring Plan the Company announced in February 2024.
Impairment. The Company recorded an impairment charge of $949.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2024, as compared to $269.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2023. The increase was primarily due to the Company failing to meet 2024 sales and margin projections as well as decreased future cash flow projections across certain product lines including stationary, liquefiers and fuel cells for mobility projects related to HyVia. Additionally, the Company paused certain hydrogen production plant projects during 2024. This pause, as well as the decrease in cash flow projections, was primarily due to weakening demand in the global hydrogen market. As a result, the Company tested the recoverability of its long-lived assets and finite-lived intangibles by comparing the carrying values against undiscounted future cash flow projections and determined that an impairment existed.
The Company recorded impairment of goodwill of $0 for the year ended December 31, 2024, as compared to $249.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2023. The Company performs an impairment review of goodwill on an annual basis at October 1, and when a triggering event is determined to have occurred between annual impairment tests. Based on the results of our quantitative impairment analysis, the Company recognized an impairment charge of $249.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2023. As of December 31, 2024 and 2023, the Company had no goodwill.
Change in fair value of contingent consideration. The change in fair value of contingent consideration is related to earnouts for the Giner ELX, Inc. (“Giner”), United Hydrogen Group Inc. (“UHG”), Frames, and Joule acquisitions. The change in fair value for the year ended December 31, 2024 and 2023 was $(15.8) million and $30.0 million, respectively. The decrease was primarily due a decrease in the fair value of contingent consideration for Joule’s earn-out of $14.3 million during the year ended December 31, 2024 due to changes in management assumptions.
Interest income. Interest income primarily consists of income generated by our investment holdings, restricted cash escrow accounts, and money market accounts. Interest income for the year ended December 31, 2024 decreased $25.1 million, or 45.0%, as compared to the year ended December 31, 2023. The decrease during the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to December 31, 2023 was primarily due to the maturities and sale of the Company’s available-for-sale portfolio of higher-yielding U.S. treasury securities during 2023.
Interest expense. Interest expense consists of interest expense related to our long-term debt, convertible senior notes, obligations under finance leases and our finance obligations. Interest expense for the year ended December 31, 2024 increased $1.4 million, or 3.1%, as compared to the year ended December 31, 2023. The increase was primarily due to an increase in the average balance of the Company’s debt during the year ended December 31, 2024, which was driven by the 6.00% Convertible Debenture.
Other income/(expense), net. Other income/(expense), net primarily consists of foreign currency translation and gains and losses related to energy contracts. Other expense, net increased $19.9 million, or 19900.0%, during the year ended December 31, 2024 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2023. The increase was primarily due to losses related to energy contracts and foreign currency losses during the year ended December 31, 2024.
Realized loss on investments, net. Realized loss on investments, net consists of the sales related to available-for-sale debt securities and equity securities. For the year ended December 31, 2024, the Company had $0 net realized loss on investments as compared to $12.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2023. An other-than-temporary impairment charge of $10.8 million on the Company’s available-for-sale securities was taken during the third quarter of 2023 and was due to a change in the Company’s ability and intent to retain these investments for a period of time sufficient to allow for any anticipated recovery in the fair value. The other-than-temporary impairment charge was realized when the Company sold its remaining available-for-sale securities and equity securities during the fourth quarter of 2023.
Change in fair value of equity securities. Change in fair value of equity securities consists of the changes in fair value for equity securities from the purchase date to the end of the period. For the year ended December 31, 2024, the change in fair value of equity securities was $0 as compared to an increase of $11.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2023. The decrease was due to the Company selling its remaining equity securities during the fourth quarter of 2023.
Loss on extinguishment of convertible senior notes and debt. Loss on extinguishment of convertible senior notes and debt consists of losses that arise from retirement of the Company’s convertible senior notes and debt before maturity.
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For the year ended December 31, 2024, the Company had loss on extinguishment of convertible senior notes and debt of $16.3 million as compared to loss on extinguishment of convertible senior notes and debt of $0 for the year ended December 31, 2023. These losses are driven from the exchange of $138.8 million in aggregate principal amount of the Company’s 3.50% Convertible Senior Notes for $140.4 million in aggregate principal amount of the Company’s new 7.00% Convertible Senior Notes during the first quarter of 2024.
Change in fair value of debt. Change in fair value of debt consists of losses that arise from the changes in fair value of the Company’s 6.00% Convertible Debenture. For the year ended December 31, 2024, the Company had change in fair value of debt of $3.4 million as compared to change in fair value of debt of $0 for the year ended December 31, 2023. These losses are driven from the fair value changes that arose from the re-measurement of the Company’s 6.00% Convertible Debenture as of December 31, 2024 compared to its fair value upon issuance.
Loss on equity method investments. Loss on equity method investments consists of our interest in HyVia, which is our 50/50 joint venture with Renault, AccionaPlug S.L., which is our 50/50 joint venture with Acciona, SK Plug Hyverse, which is our 49/51 joint venture with SK Innovation, and Clean H2 Infra Fund. For the year ended December 31, 2024, the Company recorded a loss of $32.2 million on equity method investments as compared to a loss of $41.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2023. These losses are driven from the start-up activities for commercial and production operations of the aforementioned investments.
Income Taxes
The Company recorded $2.7 million of income tax benefit and $7.4 million of income tax benefit for the year ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively. The income tax benefit for the year ended December 31, 2024 was due to an incremental change to the valuation allowance recorded in foreign jurisdictions. The Company has not changed its overall conclusion with respect to the need for a valuation allowance against its net deferred tax assets in the U.S., which remain fully reserved. Except for a few service entities mainly in Europe, all deferred tax assets are offset by a full valuation allowance because it is more likely than not that the tax benefits of the net operating loss carryforwards and other deferred tax assets will not be realized. As of December 31, 2024, the Company’s Netherlands subsidiary established a full valuation allowance on its deferred tax assets that will not be realized.
The domestic net deferred tax asset generated from the Company’s net operating loss has been offset by a full valuation allowance because it is more likely than not that the tax benefits of the net operating loss carryforward will not be realized. The Company recognizes accrued interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits, if any, as a component of income tax expense.
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development Inclusive Framework on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting has proposed a global minimum corporate tax rate of 15% on multi-national corporations, commonly referred to as the Pillar Two rules that has been agreed upon in principle by over 140 countries. While the United States has not adopted the Pillar Two rules, numerous foreign countries have enacted legislation to implement the Pillar Two rules, effective beginning January 1, 2024, or are expected to enact similar legislation. As of December 31, 2024, the Company did not meet the consolidated revenue threshold and is not subject to the GloBE Rules under Pillar Two. The Company will continue to monitor the implementation of rules in the jurisdictions in which it operates.
Public and Private Offerings of Equity and Debt
“At-the-Market” Equity Offering Program
On January 17, 2024, the Company entered into the At Market Issuance Sales Agreement the Original ATM Agreement (the “ATM Agreement”) with B. Riley, pursuant to which the Company may, from time to time, offer and sell through or to B. Riley, as sales agent or principal, shares of the Company’s common stock, having an aggregate gross sales price of up to $1.0 billion. On each of February 23, 2024 and November 7, 2024, the Company amended the ATM Agreement to increase the amount of shares of the Company’s common stock available for sale under the Amended ATM Agreement to $1.0 billion. During the year ended December 31, 2024, the Company sold 219,835,221 shares of common stock at a weighted-average sales price of $3.08 per share for gross proceeds of $677.2 million with related issuance costs of $10.4 million. As of December 31, 2024, the Company had $1.0 billion remaining under the “at-the-market” equity offering program for future sales of common stock.
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Underwritten Public Offering of Common Stock
On July 22, 2024, the Company sold 78,740,157 shares of its common stock at a public offering price of $2.54 per share for net proceeds of $191.0 million after deducting the underwriting discount and related offering expenses.
Secured Debt
During the second quarter of 2024, the Company began repaying the principal and interest on a $2.0 million allowance for tenant work related to its manufacturing facility in Slingerlands, NY. In accordance with ASC 842, Leases (“ASC 842”), the allowance is treated as a freestanding financial instrument separate from the facility lease and is accounted for as long-term debt. The outstanding principal and carrying value of the debt was $1.7 million as of December 31, 2024, $0.2 million and $1.5 million of which was classified as short-term and long-term, respectively, on the accompanying consolidated balance sheets.
In June 2020, the Company acquired debt as part of the acquisition of UHG. The outstanding carrying value of the debt was $1.2 million and $3.9 million as of December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively. As of December 31, 2024, the outstanding principal on the debt was $2.1 million and the unamortized debt discount was $0.9 million, of which $0.4 million and $0.5 million was classified as short-term and long-term, respectively, bearing varying interest rates ranging from 7.3% to 7.6%. The debt is scheduled to mature in 2026. As of December 31, 2024, the principal balance was due at each of the following dates (in thousands):
| | | | |
|---|---|---|---|
| December 31, 2025 | | 1,200 | |
| December 31, 2026 | | | 900 |
| Total outstanding principal | | $ | 2,100 |
In March 2019, the Company entered into a loan and security agreement, as amended, with Generate Lending, LLC, providing for a secured term loan facility in the amount of $100 million (the “Term Loan Facility”). In December 2022, the Company fully repaid the outstanding balance of the Term Loan Facility, which resulted in a recording of a loss on the extinguishment of debt of $1.0 million on the consolidated statements of operations.
6.00% Convertible Debenture
On November 11, 2024, the Company entered into the Debenture Purchase Agreement pursuant to which the Company issued to Yorkville a convertible debenture (the “6.00% Convertible Debenture”) in exchange for the payment of $190.0 million. The 6.00% Convertible Debenture was issued in a private placement in reliance upon an exemption from registration provided by Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act. The 6.00% Convertible Debenture ranks pari passu in right of payment with all other outstanding and future senior indebtedness of the Company.
The 6.00% Convertible Debenture bears interest at a rate of 6.00% per annum and is payable on the second year anniversary of the issuance date of the 6.00% Convertible Debenture (the “Maturity Date”) or earlier redemption date. The interest rate will increase to a rate of 16.0% per annum upon the occurrence and during the continuance of an event of default under the 6.00% Convertible Debenture.
The 6.00% Convertible Debenture provides that Yorkville may convert all or any portion of the principal amount of the 6.00% Convertible Debenture, together with any accrued and unpaid interest thereon, at an initial conversion price of $2.90 (the “Fixed Price”), representing a conversion premium of 146% to the last reported sale price of the Company’s common stock on November 11, 2024. In certain circumstances, Yorkville will be permitted to convert up to $22.5 million aggregate principal amount of the 6.00% Convertible Debenture plus accrued and unpaid interest thereon, each calendar month beginning with December 2024, at a conversion price equal to the lower of the (1) Fixed Price and (2) 97.25% of the lowest daily volume-weighted average price for the Company’s common stock during the three trading days immediately preceding the applicable conversion date (the “Market Price”); provided that such Market Price is not less than $0.3941 (the “Floor Price”). The Fixed Price is subject to adjustment in certain circumstances including if the Company issues shares of common stock at price per share that is less than the Fixed Price or certain convertible securities with a conversion price that is less than the Fixed Price (the “Dilutive Price”), in which case the Fixed Price would be adjusted to equal the Dilutive Price, subject to certain exceptions. Yorkville is not permitted to convert the 6.00% Convertible Debenture to the extent that the shares of common stock deliverable upon conversion thereof would exceed
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19.99% of the Company’s outstanding shares immediately prior to executing the Debenture Purchase Agreement (the “Exchange Cap”) without prior stockholder approval.
If (1) the volume-weighted average price of the Company’s common stock is below the Floor Price for a specified period of time, (2) the Company has issued more than 99% of the shares of common stock available under the Exchange Cap or (3) a registration default has occurred with respect to the resale registration statement registering the shares of common stock potentially underlying the 6.00% Convertible Debenture, then Yorkville may require the Company to redeem or convert, at the Company’s discretion, $22.5 million of the principal amount of the 6.00% Convertible Debenture, a premium thereon equal to 2.75% of such principal amount and accrued interest thereon on a monthly basis, unless and until such event is cured in accordance with the provisions of the 6.00% Convertible Debenture.
The Company has the right to redeem the 6.00% Convertible Debenture if the volume-weighted average price of the Company’s common stock is less than the Fixed Price at a redemption price equal to 102.75% of the principal amount redeemed plus accrued and unpaid interest thereon. The Company also has the right to redeem the 6.00% Convertible Debenture if the volume-weighted average price of the Company’s common stock is equal to or greater than the product of 1.3793 and the Fixed Price at a redemption price equal to 102.75% of the principal amount redeemed plus accrued and unpaid interest thereon or, in certain circumstances, 105.0% of the principal amount redeemed plus accrued and unpaid interest thereon.
The change in the carrying amount of the 6.00% Convertible Debenture for the year ended December 31, 2024 was as follows (in thousands):
| | | | |
|---|---|---|---|
| | December 31, 2024 | ||
| Principal received at issuance | | $ | 190,000 |
| Payments of principal settled in cash | | | (22,500) |
| Payments or principal settled in common stock | | | — |
| Loss on debt extinguishment | | | 1,613 |
| Change in fair value of the convertible senior note | | | 3,424 |
| Amortization of discount | | | 613 |
| Ending balance as of December 31, 2024 | | $ | 173,150 |
The following table summarizes the total interest expense and effective interest rate related to the 6.00% Convertible Debenture for the year ended December 31, 2024 (in thousands, except for the effective interest rate):
| | | | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| | | Year ended | | |
| | December 31, 2024 | | ||
| Interest expense | | $ | 1,596 | |
| Amortization of discount | | | 613 | |
| Total | | $ | 2,209 | |
| Effective interest rate | | | 8.7 | % |
7.00% Convertible Senior Notes
On March 20, 2024, the Company entered into separate, privately negotiated exchange agreements with certain holders of the Company’s outstanding 3.75% Convertible Senior Notes pursuant to which the Company exchanged $138.8 million in aggregate principal amount of the 3.75% Convertible Senior Notes, and accrued and unpaid interest of $1.6 million on such notes to, but excluding, March 20, 2024, for $140.4 million in aggregate principal amount of the Company’s new 7.00% Convertible Senior Notes due 2026, in each case, pursuant to the exemption from registration provided by Section 4(a)(2) under the Securities Act. Following the exchange, approximately $58.5 million in aggregate principal amount of the 3.75% Convertible Senior Notes remained outstanding with terms unchanged.
This transaction was accounted for as an extinguishment of debt. As a result, the Company recorded a loss on extinguishment of debt of $14.0 million in the consolidated statements of operations during the first quarter of 2024. Loss on extinguishment of debt arises from the difference between the net carrying amount of the Company’s debt and the fair value of the assets transferred to extinguish the debt.
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The 7.00% Convertible Senior Notes are the Company’s senior, unsecured obligations and are governed by the terms of an Indenture (the “Indenture”), dated as of March 20, 2024, entered into between the Company and Wilmington Trust, National Association, as trustee. The 7.00% Convertible Senior Notes bear cash interest at the rate of 7.00% per annum, payable semi-annually in arrears on June 1 and December 1 of each year, beginning on June 1, 2024, to holders of record at the close of business on the preceding May 15 and November 15, respectively. The 7.00% Convertible Senior Notes mature on June 1, 2026, unless earlier converted or redeemed or repurchased by the Company.
The conversion rate for the 7.00% Convertible Senior Notes is initially 235.4049 shares of the Company’s common stock per $1,000 principal amount of 7.00% Convertible Senior Notes, which is equivalent to an initial conversion price of approximately $4.25 per share of common stock, which represents a premium of approximately 20% over the last reported sale price of the Company’s common stock on the Nasdaq Capital Market on March 12, 2024. The conversion rate and conversion price are subject to customary adjustments upon the occurrence of certain events. Prior to the close of business on the business day immediately preceding December 1, 2025, the 7.00% Convertible Senior Notes will be convertible at the option of the holders of the 7.00% Convertible Senior Notes only upon the satisfaction of specified conditions and during certain periods. On or after December 1, 2025 until the close of business on the second scheduled trading day immediately preceding the maturity date, the 7.00% Convertible Senior Notes will be convertible at the option of the holders of the 7.00% Convertible Senior Notes at any time regardless of these conditions. Conversions of the 7.00% Convertible Senior Notes will be settled in cash, shares of the Company’s common stock, or a combination thereof, at the Company’s election.
Subject to certain exceptions and subject to certain conditions, holders of the 7.00% Convertible Senior Notes may require the Company to repurchase their 7.00% Convertible Senior Notes upon the occurrence of a “Fundamental Change” (as defined in the Indenture) prior to maturity for cash at a repurchase price equal to 100% of the principal amount of the 7.00% Convertible Senior Notes to be repurchased plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any, to, but excluding, the repurchase date.
The 7.00% Convertible Senior Notes will be redeemable, in whole or in part, at the Company’s option at any time on or after June 5, 2025, at a cash redemption price equal to the principal amount of the 7.00% Convertible Senior Notes to be redeemed, plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any, to, but excluding, the redemption date, but only if the last reported sale price per share of the Company’s common stock exceeds 130% of the then-applicable conversion price then in effect for at least 20 trading days (whether or not consecutive), including at least one of the three trading days immediately preceding the date the Company sends the related redemption notice, during any 30 consecutive trading day period ending on, and including, the trading day immediately preceding the date on which the Company sends such redemption notice.
In certain circumstances, conversions of 7.00% Convertible Senior Notes in connection with “Make-Whole Fundamental Changes” (as defined in the Indenture) or conversions of 7.00% Convertible Senior Notes called for redemption may result in an increase to the conversion rate, provided that the conversion rate will not exceed 282.4859 shares of the Company’s common stock per $1,000 principal amount of 7.00% Convertible Senior Notes, subject to adjustment. In such circumstance, a maximum of 39,659,890 shares of common stock, subject to adjustment, may be issued upon conversion of the 7.00% Convertible Senior Notes. There were no conversions of the 7.00% Convertible Senior Notes during the year ended December 31, 2024.
The 7.00% Convertible Senior Notes consisted of the following (in thousands):
| | | | |
|---|---|---|---|
| | December 31, 2024 | ||
| Principal amounts: | | | |
| Principal | | $ | 140,396 |
| Unamortized debt premium, net of offering costs(1) | | | 7,514 |
| Net carrying amount | | $ | 147,910 |
| Column 1 | Column 2 |
|---|---|
| (1) | Included in the consolidated balance sheets within convertible senior notes, net and amortized over the remaining life of the notes using the effective interest rate method. |
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The following table summarizes the total interest expense and effective interest rate related to the 7.00% Convertible Senior Notes for the year ended December 31, 2024 (in thousands, except for the effective interest rate):
| | | | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| | | Year ended | | |
| | December 31, 2024 | | ||
| Interest expense | | $ | 7,687 | |
| Amortization of premium | | | (4,085) | |
| Total | | $ | 3,602 | |
| Effective interest rate | | | 3.0 | % |
The estimated fair value of the 7.00% Convertible Senior Notes as of December 31, 2024 was approximately $112.5 million. The fair value estimation was primarily based on a quoted price in an active market.
3.75% Convertible Senior Notes
On May 18, 2020, the Company issued $200.0 million in aggregate principal amount of 3.75% Convertible Senior Notes due June 1, 2025 in a private placement to qualified institutional buyers pursuant to Rule 144A under the Securities Act. On May 29, 2020, the Company issued an additional $12.5 million in aggregate principal amount of 3.75% Convertible Senior Notes. On March 12, 2024, the Company exchanged $138.8 million in aggregate principal amount of the 3.75% Convertible Senior Notes for $140.4 million in aggregate principal amount of the Company’s new 7.00% Convertible Senior Notes due 2026. Following the exchange, approximately $58.5 million in aggregate principal amount of the 3.75% Convertible Senior Notes remained outstanding with terms unchanged.
The 3.75% Convertible Senior Notes bear interest at a rate of 3.75% per year, payable semi-annually in arrears on June 1 and December 1 of each year, beginning on December 1, 2020. The notes will mature on June 1, 2025, unless earlier converted, redeemed or repurchased in accordance with their terms.
The 3.75% Convertible Senior Notes are senior, unsecured obligations of the Company and rank senior in right of payment to any of the Company’s indebtedness that is expressly subordinated in right of payment to the notes, equal in right of payment to any of the Company’s existing and future liabilities that are not so subordinated, effectively junior in right of payment to any of the Company’s secured indebtedness to the extent of the value of the collateral securing such indebtedness, and structurally subordinated to all indebtedness and other liabilities, including trade payables, of its current or future subsidiaries.
Holders of the 3.75% Convertible Senior Notes may convert their notes at their option at any time prior to the close of the business day immediately preceding December 1, 2024 in the following circumstances:
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| 1) | during any calendar quarter commencing after March 31, 2021, if the last reported sale price of the Company’s common stock exceeds 130% of the conversion price for each of at least 20 trading days (whether or not consecutive) during a period of 30 consecutive trading days ending on, and including, the last trading day of the immediately preceding calendar quarter; |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| 2) | during the five business days after any five consecutive trading day period (such five consecutive trading day period, the measurement period) in which the trading price per $1,000 principal amount of the 3.75% Convertible Senior Notes for each trading day of the measurement period was less than 98% of the product of the last reported sale price of the Company’s common stock and the conversion rate on each such trading day; |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| 3) | if the Company calls any or all of the 3.75% Convertible Senior Notes for redemption, any such notes that have been called for redemption may be converted at any time prior to the close of business on the second scheduled trading day immediately preceding the redemption date; or |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| 4) | upon the occurrence of specified corporate events, as described in the indenture governing the 3.75% Convertible Senior Notes. |
On or after December 1, 2024, the holders of the 3.75% Convertible Senior Notes may convert all or any portion of their notes at any time prior to the close of business on the second scheduled trading day immediately preceding the
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maturity date regardless of the foregoing conditions. There were no conversions of the 3.75% Convertible Senior Notes during the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023.
The initial conversion rate for the 3.75% Convertible Senior Notes is 198.6196 shares of the Company’s common stock per $1,000 principal amount of notes, which is equivalent to an initial conversion price of approximately $5.03 per share of the Company’s common stock, subject to adjustment upon the occurrence of specified events. Upon conversion, the Company will pay or deliver, as applicable, cash, shares of the Company’s common stock or a combination of cash and shares of the Company’s common stock, at the Company’s election. During the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, there were no conversions. During the year ended December 31, 2021, $15.2 million of the 3.75% Convertible Senior Notes were converted and the Company issued approximately 3.0 million shares of common stock in conjunction with these conversions.
In addition, following certain corporate events or following issuance of a notice of redemption, the Company will increase the conversion rate for a holder who elects to convert its notes in connection with such a corporate event or convert its notes called for redemption during the related redemption period in certain circumstances.
The 3.75% Convertible Senior Notes will be redeemable, in whole or in part, at the Company’s option at any time, and from time to time, on or after June 5, 2023 and before the 41st scheduled trading day immediately before the maturity date, at a cash redemption price equal to 100% of the principal amount of the notes to be redeemed, plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any, but only if the last reported sale price per share of the Company’s common stock exceeds 130% of the conversion price then in effect for at least 20 trading days (whether or not consecutive), including at least one of the three trading days immediately preceding the date the Company sends the related redemption notice, during any 30 consecutive trading day period ending on, and including, the trading day immediately preceding the date on which the Company sends such redemption notice.
If the Company undergoes a “fundamental change” (as defined in the Indenture), holders may require the Company to repurchase their notes for cash all or any portion of their notes at a fundamental change repurchase price equal to 100% of the principal amount of the notes to be repurchased, plus accrued and unpaid interest, to, but excluding, the fundamental change repurchase date.
The Company accounts for the 3.75% Convertible Senior Notes as a liability. We incurred transaction costs related to the issuance of the 3.75% Convertible Senior Notes of approximately $7.0 million, consisting of initial purchasers’ discount of approximately $6.4 million and other issuance costs of $0.6 million which were recorded as debt issuance cost (presented as contra debt in the consolidated balance sheets) and are being amortized to interest expense over the term of the 3.75% Convertible Senior Notes.
The 3.75% Convertible Senior Notes consisted of the following (in thousands):
| | | | | | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | December 31, 2024 | December 31, 2023 | ||||
| Principal amounts: | | | | | | |
| Principal | | $ | 58,462 | | $ | 197,278 |
| Unamortized debt issuance costs(1) | | | (189) | | | (2,014) |
| Net carrying amount | | $ | 58,273 | | $ | 195,264 |
| Column 1 | Column 2 |
|---|---|
| 1) | Included in the consolidated balance sheets within the 3.75% Convertible Senior Notes, net and amortized over the remaining life of the notes using the effective interest rate method. |
The following table summarizes the total interest expense and effective interest rate related to the 3.75% Convertible Senior Notes for the year ended December 31, 2024 (in thousands, except for effective interest rate):
| | | | | | | | | | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | | Year ended | | |||||||
| | December 31, 2024 | December 31, 2023 | December 31, 2022 | | ||||||
| Interest expense | | $ | 3,335 | | $ | 7,546 | | $ | 7,398 | |
| Amortization of debt issuance costs | | | 642 | | | 1,345 | | | 1,286 | |
| Total | | $ | 3,977 | | $ | 8,891 | | $ | 8,684 | |
| Effective interest rate | | | 4.5 | % | | 4.6 | % | | 4.5 | % |
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The estimated fair value of the 3.75% Convertible Senior Notes as of December 31, 2024 and 2023 was approximately $44.9 million and $213.2 million, respectively. The fair value estimation was primarily based on a quoted price in an active market.
Capped Call
In conjunction with the pricing of the 3.75% Convertible Senior Notes, the Company entered into privately negotiated capped call transactions (the “3.75% Notes Capped Call”) with certain counterparties at a price of $16.2 million. The 3.75% Notes Capped Call covers, subject to anti-dilution adjustments, the aggregate number of shares of the Company’s common stock that underlie the initial 3.75% Convertible Senior Notes and is generally expected to reduce potential dilution to the Company’s common stock upon any conversion of the 3.75% Convertible Senior Notes and/or offset any cash payments the Company is required to make in excess of the principal amount of the converted notes, as the case may be, with such reduction and/or offset subject to a cap based on the cap price. The cap price of the 3.75% Notes Capped Call is initially $6.7560 per share, which represents a premium of approximately 60% over the last then-reported sale price of the Company’s common stock of $4.11 per share on the date of the transaction and is subject to certain adjustments under the terms of the 3.75% Notes Capped Call. The 3.75% Notes Capped Call becomes exercisable if the conversion option is exercised.
The net cost incurred in connection with the 3.75% Notes Capped Call has been recorded as a reduction to additional paid-in capital in the consolidated balance sheets at the time the transactions were entered into. The book value of the 3.75% Notes Capped Call is not remeasured.
Common Stock Transactions
Amazon Transaction Agreement in 2022
On August 24, 2022, the Company and Amazon entered into a Transaction Agreement (the “2022 Amazon Transaction Agreement”), under which the Company concurrently issued to Amazon.com NV Investment Holdings LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Amazon, a warrant (the “2022 Amazon Warrant”) to acquire up to 16,000,000 shares (the “2022 Amazon Warrant Shares”) of the Company’s common stock, subject to certain vesting events described below. The Company and Amazon entered into the 2022 Amazon Transaction Agreement in connection with a concurrent commercial arrangement under which Amazon agreed to purchase hydrogen fuel from the Company through August 24, 2029.
1,000,000 of the 2022 Amazon Warrant Shares vested immediately upon issuance of the 2022 Amazon Warrant. 15,000,000 of the 2022 Amazon Warrant Shares will vest in multiple tranches over the 7-year term of the 2022 Amazon Warrant based on payments made to the Company directly by Amazon or its affiliates, or indirectly through third parties, with 15,000,000 of the 2022 Amazon Warrant Shares fully vesting if Amazon-related payments of $2.1 billion are made in the aggregate. The exercise price for the first 9,000,000 2022 Amazon Warrant Shares is $22.9841 per share and the fair value on the grant date was $20.36. The exercise price for the remaining 7,000,000 2022 Amazon Warrant Shares will be an amount per share equal to 90% of the 30-day volume weighted average share price of the Company’s common stock as of the final vesting event that results in full vesting of the first 9,000,000 2022 Amazon Warrant Shares. The 2022 Amazon Warrant is exercisable through August 24, 2029.
Upon the consummation of certain change of control transactions (as defined in the 2022 Amazon Warrant) prior to the vesting of at least 60% of the aggregate 2022 Amazon Warrant Shares, the 2022 Amazon Warrant will automatically vest and become exercisable with respect to an additional number of 2022 Amazon Warrant Shares such that 60% of the aggregate 2022 Amazon Warrant Shares shall have vested. If a change of control transaction is consummated after the vesting of at least 60% of the aggregate 2022 Amazon Warrant Shares, then no acceleration of vesting will occur with respect to any of the unvested 2022 Amazon Warrant Shares as a result of the transaction. The exercise price and the 2022 Amazon Warrant Shares issuable upon exercise of the 2022 Amazon Warrant are subject to customary antidilution adjustments.
On August 24, 2022, 1,000,000 of the 2022 Amazon Warrant Shares associated with tranche 1 vested. The warrant fair value associated with the vested shares of tranche 1 of $20.4 million was capitalized to contract assets based on the grant date fair value and is subsequently amortized ratably as a reduction to revenue based on the Company’s estimate of revenue over the term of the agreement. As of December 31, 2024, the balance of the contract asset related to tranche 1 was $16.5 million which is recorded in contract assets in the Company’s consolidated balance sheets. During the second quarter of 2023, all 1,000,000 of the Amazon Warrant Shares associated with tranche 2 vested. The warrant fair value
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associated with the vested shares of tranche 2 was $20.4 million and was determined on the grant date of August 24, 2022. As of December 31, 2024, the balance of the contract asset related to tranche 2 was $16.5 million. Tranche 3 will vest over the next $1.0 billion of collections from Amazon and its affiliates. The grant date fair value of tranche 3 will also be amortized ratably as a reduction to revenue based on the Company’s estimate of revenue over the term of the agreement. As of December 31, 2024, the balance of the contract asset related to tranche 3 was $0.2 million. Because the exercise price has yet to be determined, if probable of vesting, the fair value of tranche 4 will be remeasured at each reporting period end and amortized ratably as a reduction to revenue based on the Company’s estimate of revenue over the term of the agreement.
As of December 31, 2024 and 2023, 3,000,000 and 2,000,000 of the 2022 Amazon Warrant Shares had vested, respectively, and none of the 2022 Amazon Warrant Shares had been exercised. The total amount of provision for common stock warrants recorded as a reduction of revenue for the 2022 Amazon Warrant during the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022 was $19.0 million, $4.9 million and $5.2 million, respectively.
Amazon Transaction Agreement in 2017
On April 4, 2017, the Company and Amazon entered into a Transaction Agreement (the “2017 Amazon Transaction Agreement”), pursuant to which the Company agreed to issue to Amazon.com NV Investment Holdings LLC, a warrant (the “2017 Amazon Warrant”) to acquire up to 55,286,696 shares (the “2017 Amazon Warrant Shares”) of the Company’s common stock, subject to certain vesting events. The Company and Amazon entered into the 2017 Amazon Transaction Agreement in connection with existing commercial agreements between the Company and Amazon with respect to the deployment of the Company’s GenKey fuel cell technology at Amazon distribution centers. The vesting of the 2017 Amazon Warrant Shares was conditioned upon payments made by Amazon or its affiliates (directly or indirectly through third parties) pursuant to the existing commercial agreements. On December 31, 2020, the Company waived the remaining vesting conditions under the 2017 Amazon Warrant, which resulted in the immediate vesting of all the third tranche of the 2017 Amazon Warrant Shares.
As of December 31, 2024 and 2023, all 55,286,696 of the 2017 Amazon Warrant Shares had vested and the 2017 Amazon Warrant was exercised with respect to 34,917,912 shares of the Company’s common stock. The total amount of provision for common stock warrants recorded as a reduction of revenue for the 2017 Amazon Warrant during the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022 was $0.4 million, $0.4 million and $0.4 million, respectively.
Walmart Transaction Agreement
On July 20, 2017, the Company and Walmart entered into a Transaction Agreement (the “Walmart Transaction Agreement”), pursuant to which the Company agreed to issue to Walmart a warrant (the “Walmart Warrant”) to acquire up to 55,286,696 shares of the Company’s common stock, subject to certain vesting events (the “Walmart Warrant Shares”). The Company and Walmart entered into the Walmart Transaction Agreement in connection with existing commercial agreements between the Company and Walmart with respect to the deployment of the Company’s GenKey fuel cell technology across various Walmart distribution centers. The existing commercial agreements contemplate, but do not guarantee, future purchase orders for the Company’s fuel cell technology. The vesting of the warrant shares was conditioned upon payments made by Walmart or its affiliates (directly or indirectly through third parties) pursuant to transactions entered into after January 1, 2017 under existing commercial agreements.
The majority of the Walmart Warrant Shares will vest based on Walmart’s payment of up to $600.0 million to the Company in connection with Walmart’s purchase of goods and services from the Company. The first tranche of 5,819,652 Walmart Warrant Shares vested upon the execution of the Walmart Warrant and was fully exercised as of December 31, 2020. Accordingly, $10.9 million, the fair value of the first tranche of Walmart Warrant Shares, was recorded as a provision for common stock warrants and presented as a reduction to revenue on the consolidated statements of operations during 2017. All future provision for common stock warrants is measured based on the fair value of the awards and recorded as a charge against revenue. The second tranche of 29,098,260 Walmart Warrant Shares vested in four installments of 7,274,565 Walmart Warrant Shares each time Walmart or its affiliates, directly or indirectly through third parties, made an aggregate of $50.0 million in payments for goods and services to the Company, up to payments totaling $200.0 million in the aggregate.
The exercise price for the first and second tranches of Walmart Warrant Shares was $2.1231 per share. After Walmart has made payments to the Company totaling $200.0 million, the third tranche of 20,368,784 Walmart Warrant
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Shares will vest in eight installments of 2,546,098 Walmart Warrant Shares each time Walmart or its affiliates, directly or indirectly through third parties, make an aggregate of $50.0 million in payments for goods and services to the Company, up to payments totaling $400.0 million in the aggregate. The exercise price of the third tranche of the Walmart Warrant Shares is $6.28 per share, which was determined pursuant to the terms of the Walmart Warrant as an amount equal to 90% of the 30-day volume weighted average share price of the Company’s common stock as of October 30, 2023, the final vesting date of the second tranche of the Walmart Warrant Shares. The Walmart Warrant is exercisable through July 20, 2027. The Walmart Warrant provides for net share settlement that, if elected by the holder, will reduce the number of shares issued upon exercise to reflect net settlement of the exercise price. The Walmart Warrant provides for certain adjustments that may be made to the exercise price and the number of shares of common stock issuable upon exercise due to customary anti-dilution provisions based on future events. The Walmart Warrant is classified as an equity instrument. As of December 31, 2024, the balance of the contract asset related to the Walmart Warrant was $2.6 million.
As of December 31, 2024 and 2023, 40,010,108 and 34,917,912 of the Walmart Warrant Shares had vested, respectively, and the Walmart Warrant was exercised with respect to 13,094,217 shares of the Company’s common stock. The total amount of provision for common stock warrants recorded as a reduction of revenue for the Walmart Warrant during the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022 was $19.6 million, $5.9 million, and $7.1 million, respectively.
Operating and Finance Lease Liabilities
As of December 31, 2024, the Company had operating leases, as lessee, primarily associated with sale/leaseback transactions that are partially secured by restricted cash, security deposits and pledged escrows (see also Note 1, “Nature of Operations”) as summarized below. These leases expire over the next one to six years. Minimum rent payments under operating leases are recognized on a straight-line basis over the term of the lease.
Leases contain termination clauses with associated penalties, the amount of which cause the likelihood of cancellation to be remote. At the end of the lease term, the leased assets may be returned to the lessor by the Company, the Company may negotiate with the lessor to purchase the assets at fair market value, or the Company may negotiate with the lessor to renew the lease at market rental rates. No residual value guarantees are contained in the leases. No financial covenants are contained within the lease, however there are customary operational covenants such as assurance the Company properly maintains the leased assets and carries appropriate insurance, etc. The leases include credit support in the form of either cash, collateral or letters of credit. See Note 23, “Commitments and Contingencies”, for a description of cash held as security associated with the leases.
The Company has finance leases associated with its property and equipment in Latham, New York and at fueling customer locations.
Future minimum lease payments under operating and finance leases (with initial or remaining lease terms in excess of one year) as of December 31, 2024 were as follows (in thousands):
| | | | | | | | | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | | | | | Finance | Total | |||
| | | Operating Lease | | Lease | | Lease | |||
| | Liability | Liability | Liabilities | ||||||
| 2025 | | $ | 100,882 | | $ | 14,786 | | $ | 115,668 |
| 2026 | | | 88,834 | | 11,926 | | | 100,760 | |
| 2027 | | | 74,819 | | 8,250 | | | 83,069 | |
| 2028 | | | 52,459 | | 1,940 | | | 54,399 | |
| 2029 | | | 28,877 | | | 400 | | | 29,277 |
| 2030 and thereafter | | | 128,374 | | | 2,898 | | | 131,272 |
| Total future minimum payments | | | 474,245 | | 40,200 | | | 514,445 | |
| Less imputed interest | | | (160,847) | | | (4,620) | | | (165,467) |
| Total | | $ | 313,398 | | $ | 35,580 | | $ | 348,978 |
Rental expense for all operating leases was $98.1 million, $95.0 million, and $67.6 million for the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively.
As of December 31, 2024 and 2023, security deposits associated with sale/leaseback transactions were $7.4 million and $7.4 million, respectively, and were included in other assets in the consolidated balance sheets.
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Other information related to the operating leases are presented in the following table:
| | | | | | | | | | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | | Year ended | Year ended | Year ended | | |||||
| | December 31, 2024 | December 31, 2023 | December 31, 2022 | | ||||||
| Cash payments - operating cash flows (in thousands) | | $ | 99,934 | | $ | 91,637 | | $ | 63,214 | |
| Weighted average remaining lease term (years) | | | 7.06 | | | 5.76 | | | 6.52 | |
| Weighted average discount rate | | | 11.1 | % | | 11.3 | % | | 11.2 | % |
Finance lease costs include amortization of the right of use assets (i.e., depreciation expense) and interest on lease liabilities (i.e., interest expense in the consolidated statements of operations), and were $7.2 million, $7.5 million and $6.2 million for the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively.
As of December 31, 2024 and 2023, the right of use assets associated with finance leases, net was $51.8 million and $57.3 million, respectively. The accumulated depreciation for these right of use assets was $12.9 million and $9.0 million at December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively.
Other information related to the finance leases are presented in the following table:
| | | | | | | | | | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | | Year ended | Year ended | Year ended | | |||||
| | December 31, 2024 | December 31, 2023 | December 31, 2022 | | ||||||
| Cash payments - operating cash flows (in thousands) | | $ | 2,740 | | $ | 3,059 | | $ | 2,447 | |
| Cash payments - financing cash flows (in thousands) | | $ | 9,341 | | $ | 8,638 | | $ | 6,586 | |
| Weighted average remaining lease term (years) | | | 3.09 | | | 3.87 | | | 3.92 | |
| Weighted average discount rate | | | 6.8 | % | | 6.8 | % | | 6.7 | % |
The Company had outstanding obligations to Wells Fargo under several Master Lease Agreements totaling $132.2 million and $171.3 million for the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively. These outstanding obligations are included in the operating lease liabilities and finance obligations financial statement line items on the consolidated balance sheets.
Finance Obligations
The Company has sold future services to be performed associated with certain sale/leaseback transactions and recorded the balance as a finance obligation. The outstanding balance of this obligation at December 31, 2024 was $276.7 million, $77.5 million and $199.2 million of which was classified as short-term and long-term, respectively, on the accompanying consolidated balance sheets. The outstanding balance of this obligation at December 31, 2023 was $350.8 million, $74.0 million and $276.8 million of which was classified as short-term and long-term, respectively, on the accompanying consolidated balance sheets. The amount is amortized using the effective interest method. Interest expense recorded related to finance obligations for the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022 was $36.7 million, $39.6 million and $29.7 million, respectively.
During the year ended December 31, 2024, the Company entered into failed sale/leaseback transactions that were accounted for as financing obligations, resulting in $60.3 million of additional finance obligations. No gain or loss was recorded as a result of these transactions. The outstanding balance of the Company’s finance obligations related to sale/leaseback transactions as of December 31, 2024 was $70.7 million, $5.6 million and $65.1 million of which was classified as short-term and long-term, respectively on the accompanying consolidated balance sheets with a residual value of $37.7 million. The outstanding balance of the Company’s finance obligations related to sale/leaseback transactions as of December 31, 2023 was $17.6 million, $10.0 million and $7.6 million of which was classified as short-term and long-term, respectively on the accompanying consolidated balance sheets with no residual value.
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Future minimum payments under finance obligations notes above as of December 31, 2024 were as follows (in thousands):
| | | | | | | | | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | | | | | | | Total | ||
| | | Sale of Future | | Sale/Leaseback | | Finance | |||
| | Revenue - Debt | Financings | Obligations | ||||||
| 2025 | | $ | 104,547 | | $ | 18,525 | | $ | 123,072 |
| 2026 | | | 87,824 | | | 14,698 | | | 102,522 |
| 2027 | | | 71,253 | | | 14,698 | | | 85,951 |
| 2028 | | | 51,188 | | | 14,484 | | | 65,672 |
| 2029 | | | 24,082 | | | 12,153 | | | 36,235 |
| 2030 and thereafter | | | 1,421 | | | 11,742 | | | 13,163 |
| Total future minimum payments | | | 340,315 | | | 86,300 | | | 426,615 |
| Less imputed interest | | | (63,606) | | | (53,297) | | | (116,903) |
| Total | | $ | 276,709 | | $ | 33,003 | | $ | 309,712 |
Other information related to the above finance obligations are presented in the following table:
| | | | | | | | | | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | | Year ended | | Year ended | | Year ended | | |||
| | December 31, 2024 | December 31, 2023 | December 31, 2022 | | ||||||
| Cash payments (in thousands) | | $ | 117,988 | | $ | 96,781 | | $ | 72,377 | |
| Weighted average remaining term (years) | | | 4.10 | | | 4.49 | | | 4.84 | |
| Weighted average discount rate | | | 12.3 | % | | 11.3 | % | | 11.1 | % |
The fair value of the Company’s total finance obligations approximated their carrying value for the years ended December 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023
Extended Maintenance Contracts
On a quarterly basis, we evaluate any potential losses related to our extended maintenance contracts for fuel cell systems and related infrastructure that has been sold. We measure loss accruals at the customer contract level. The expected revenues and expenses for these contracts include all applicable expected costs of providing services over the remaining term of the contracts and the related unearned net revenue. A loss is recognized if the sum of expected costs of providing services under the contract exceeds related unearned net revenue and is recorded as a provision for loss contracts related to service in the consolidated statements of operations. As we continue to work to improve quality and reliability, unanticipated additional quality issues or warranty claims may arise and additional material charges may be incurred in the future. These quality issues could also adversely affect our contract loss accrual. The Company has undertaken and will undertake several other initiatives to extend the life and improve the reliability of its equipment. As a result of these initiatives and our additional expectation that the increase in certain costs will abate, the Company believes that its contract loss accrual is sufficient. However, if elevated service costs persist, the Company will adjust its estimated future service costs and increase its contract loss accrual estimate.
The following table shows the roll forward of balances in the accrual for loss contracts (in thousands):
| | | | | | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | | Year ended | | Year ended | ||
| | December 31, 2024 | December 31, 2023 | ||||
| Beginning balance | | $ | 137,853 | | $ | 81,066 |
| Provision for loss accrual | | | 45,226 | | | 85,375 |
| Releases to service cost of sales | | | (51,578) | | | (29,713) |
| Increase to loss accrual related to customer warrants | | | 3,313 | | | 971 |
| Foreign currency translation adjustment | | | (458) | | | 154 |
| Ending balance | | $ | 134,356 | | $ | 137,853 |
The Company decreased the provision for loss accrual primarily due to improved pricing structure and reduction of new GenDrive deployments in 2024, partially offset by an increase in the provision related to stationary systems.
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Product Warranty Reserve
On a quarterly basis, we evaluate our product warranty reserve. The Company applies a failure rate based on product type on a contract-by-contract basis to determine its product warranty reserve liability. The following table shows the roll forward of product warranty reserve (in thousands):
| | | | | | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | | Year ended | | Year ended | ||
| | December 31, 2024 | December 31, 2023 | ||||
| Beginning balance | | $ | 8,044 | | $ | 2,954 |
| Additional provision due to new issuances | | | 8,864 | | | 7,599 |
| Adjustments to existing warranty provisions | | | (4,801) | | | (2,509) |
| Releases due to cash receipts | | | — | | | — |
| Ending balance | | $ | 12,107 | | $ | 8,044 |
The product warranty reserve balance increased during the year ended December 31, 2024 primarily due to an increase in electrolyzer systems for which revenue was recognized.
Restricted Cash
In connection with certain of the above noted sale/leaseback agreements, cash of $476.2 million and $573.5 million, respectively, was required to be restricted as security as of December 31, 2024 and 2023, which will be released over the lease term. As of December 31, 2024 and 2023, the Company also had certain letters of credit backed by security deposits totaling $276.4 million and $370.7 million, respectively, of which $242.7 million and $340.0 million are security for the above noted sale/leaseback agreements, respectively, and $33.7 million and $30.7 million are customs related letters of credit, respectively.
As of December 31, 2024 and 2023, the Company had $73.7 million and $76.8 million, respectively, held in escrow related to the construction of certain hydrogen production plants.
The Company also had $1.2 million of consideration held by our paying agent in connection with the Joule acquisition reported as restricted cash as of December 31, 2024 and 2023, with a corresponding accrued liability on the Company’s consolidated balance sheets. The Company also had $0.1 million and $0.2 million of consideration held by our paying agent in connection with the CIS acquisition reported as restricted cash as of December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively, with a corresponding accrued liability on the Company’s consolidated balance sheets. Additionally, the Company had $7.4 million and $11.7 million in restricted cash as collateral resulting from the Frames acquisition as of December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively.
Guarantee
On May 30, 2023, our joint venture, HyVia, entered into a government grant agreement with Bpifrance. As part of the agreement, our wholly-owned subsidiary, Plug Power France, was required to issue a guarantee to Bpifrance in the amount of €20.0 million through the end of January 2027. Plug Power France is liable to the extent of the guarantee for sums due to Bpifrance from HyVia under the agreement based on the difference between the total amount paid by Bpifrance and the final amount certified by HyVia and Bpifrance. As part of the agreement, there are certain milestones that HyVia is required to meet, and the nonperformance of these milestones or termination of this agreement could result in this guarantee being called upon. As of December 31, 2024, no payments related to this guarantee have been made. The Company and Plug Power France recorded a liability of $2.0 million related to this guarantee based on the Company’s estimate of the guarantee being called upon.
Commitments to Equity Method Investments
The Company’s capital commitments related to its equity method investments as of December 31, 2024 includes $4.6 million to be made during 2025.
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Unconditional Purchase Obligations
The Company has entered into certain off–balance sheet commitments that require the future purchase of goods or services (“unconditional purchase obligations”). The Company’s unconditional purchase obligations primarily consist of supplier arrangements, take or pay contracts and service agreements. For certain vendors, the Company’s unconditional obligation to purchase a minimum quantity of raw materials at an agreed upon price is fixed and determinable; while certain other raw material costs will vary due to product forecasting and future economic conditions.
Future payments under non-cancelable unconditional purchase obligations with a remaining term in excess of one year as of December 31, 2024, were as follows (in thousands):
| | | | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $ | 40,914 | |
| 2026 | | | 50,782 |
| 2027 | | | 64,852 |
| 2028 | | | — |
| 2029 | | | — |
| 2030 and thereafter | | | — |
| Total | | | 156,548 |
Restructuring
In February 2024, in a strategic move to enhance our financial performance and ensure long-term value creation in a competitive market, we approved the 2024 Restructuring Plan, a comprehensive initiative that encompassed a broad range of measures, including operational consolidation, strategic workforce adjustments, and various other cost-saving actions. These measures were aimed at increasing efficiency, improving scalability, and maintaining our leadership position in the renewable energy industry. We began executing the 2024 Restructuring Plan in February 2024 and it was effectively completed during the fourth quarter of 2024.
The determination of when we accrue for involuntary termination benefits under restructuring plans depends on whether the termination benefits are provided under an ongoing benefit arrangement or under a one-time benefit arrangement. We account for involuntary termination benefits that are provided pursuant to one-time benefit arrangements in accordance with ASC 420, Exit or Disposal Cost Obligations (“ASC 420”) whereas involuntary termination benefits that are part of an ongoing written or substantive plan are accounted for in accordance with ASC 712, Nonretirement Postemployment Benefits (“ASC 712”). We accrue a liability for termination benefits under ASC 420 in the period in which the plan is communicated to the employees and the plan is not expected to change significantly. For ongoing benefit arrangements, inclusive of statutory requirements, we accrue a liability for termination benefits under ASC 712 when the existing situation or set of circumstances indicates that an obligation has been incurred, it is probable the benefits will be paid, and the amount can be reasonably estimated. The restructuring charges that have been incurred but not yet paid are recorded in accrued expenses and other current liabilities in our consolidated balance sheets, as they are expected to be paid within the next twelve months.
During the year ended December 31, 2024, we incurred $8.1 million in restructuring costs recorded as severance expenses of $6.9 million and other restructuring costs of $1.2 million in the restructuring financial statement line item in the consolidated statements of operations. Severance expense recorded during the year ended December 31, 2024 in accordance with ASC 420 was a result of the separation of full-time employees associated with the 2024 Restructuring Plan. As of December 31, 2024, $0.1 million of accrued severance-related costs were included in accrued expenses in our consolidated balance sheets and are expected to be paid during 2025. For the year ended December 31, 2024, other restructuring costs were represented by (1) $0.2 million of legal and professional services costs, and (2) $1.0 million of other one-time employee termination benefits. As of December 31, 2024, $28 thousand of accrued other restructuring costs were included in accrued expenses in our consolidated balance sheets and are expected to be paid during 2025.
Tax Credits
Section 45V Credit for Production of Clean Hydrogen
Beginning in the second quarter of 2024, the Company determined that it qualifies for the PTC under Section 45V as part of the IRA resulting from operation of the Company’s hydrogen production plant located in Georgia. The PTC
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is available for qualified clean hydrogen produced and sold during the 10-year period beginning on the date the qualified clean hydrogen production facility was originally placed in service. The Company has chosen elective pay, also referred to as direct pay, for the 2024 taxable year. This election makes the PTC refundable, as the Company can receive the full value of the credit from the Internal Revenue Service. This election will apply to the 2024 taxable year and the four subsequent taxable years unless revoked. During the remaining five years of the 10-year period to receive the PTC, the Company can elect to transfer all or a portion of the PTC to a third party buyer in exchange for cash. The Company has analogized the accounting of the PTC to accounting for government grants due to the ability to receive payment for the credit regardless of whether the Company has an income tax liability.
As the PTC is a refundable credit (i.e., a credit with a direct-pay option available), the PTC is outside the scope of ASC 740, Income Taxes (“ASC 740”). Therefore, the Company has analogized the accounting of the PTC to accounting for government grants due to the ability to receive payment for the credit regardless of whether the Company has an income tax liability. Under a government grant model, once it is reasonably assured that the entity will comply with the conditions of the grant, the grant money should be recognized on a systematic basis over the period in which the entity recognizes the related expenses or losses for which the grant money is intended to compensate. The Company recognizes grants once it is probable that both of the following conditions will be met: (1) the Company is eligible to receive the grant and (2) the Company is able to comply with the relevant conditions of the grant.
With respect to the PTC, based on our current production, the Company expects to qualify for the full $3 per kg credit. For the year ended December 31, 2024 the Company recognized PTC of $4.0 million as a reduction to the fuel delivered to customers and related equipment costs of revenue financial statement line item in the consolidated statements of operations and $4.5 million as an increase to the other assets financial statement line item in the consolidated balance sheets.
Section 48 Credit for Qualified Fuel Cell Properties of Energy Storage Technologies
As of December 31, 2024 the Company determined that it qualifies for the Section 48 ITC for Qualified Fuel Cell Properties of Energy Storage Technologies related to its hydrogen storage and liquefaction assets at its Georgia hydrogen plant. A base rate credit of 6% is available to qualified energy storage property in the year that it is placed in-service, with availability of increased credit rates if the property qualifies. The Company determined that it qualified for a rate credit of 30%. As the ITC is considered a transferable tax credit, the Company is accounting for it as a grant related to assets. Therefore, the ITC is recognized as a reduction to the Georgia hydrogen production plant’s cost-basis, recognized within the “property, plant, and equipment, net” financial statement line item of the consolidated balance sheets, which will reduce future depreciation over the next 30 years. The amount of the ITC, which is recognized in the prepaid expenses, tax credits, and other current assets financial statement line item of the consolidated balance sheets as of December 31, 2024, was $31.3 million.
Critical Accounting Estimates
The consolidated financial statements of the Company have been prepared in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, which require management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the consolidated financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. On an on-going basis, we evaluate our estimates and judgments, including but not limited to those related to revenue recognition, valuation of inventories and intangible assets, valuation of long-lived assets, valuation of equity method investments, accrual for service loss contracts, operating and finance leases, allowance for credit losses, unbilled revenue, common stock warrants, stock-based compensation, income taxes, and contingencies. We base our estimates and judgments on historical experience and on various other factors and assumptions that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about (1) the carrying values of assets and liabilities and (2) the amount of revenue and expenses realized that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions.
We believe that the following are our most critical accounting estimates and assumptions the Company must make in the preparation of our consolidated financial statements and related notes thereto.
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Revenue Recognition
The Company enters into contracts that may contain one or a combination of fuel cell systems and infrastructure, installation, maintenance, spare parts, fuel delivery and other support services. Contracts containing fuel cell systems and related infrastructure may be sold directly to customers or provided to customers under a PPA. The Company also enters into contracts that contain electrolyzer stacks, systems, maintenance, and other support services. Furthermore, the Company enters into contracts related to the sales of cryogenic equipment, liquefaction systems and engineered equipment.
The Company does not include a right of return on its products other than rights related to standard warranty provisions that permit repair or replacement of defective goods. The Company accrues for anticipated standard warranty costs at the same time that revenue is recognized for the related product, or when circumstances indicate that warranty costs will be incurred, as applicable. Any prepaid amounts would only be refunded to the extent services have not been provided or the fuel cell systems or infrastructure have not been delivered.
Revenue is measured based on the transaction price specified in a contract with a customer, subject to the allocation of the transaction price to distinct performance obligations as discussed below. The Company recognizes revenue when it satisfies a performance obligation by transferring a product or service to a customer.
Promises to the customer are separated into performance obligations and are accounted for separately if they are (1) capable of being distinct and (2) distinct in the context of the contract. The Company considers a performance obligation to be distinct if the customer can benefit from the good or service either on its own or together with other resources readily available to the customer and the Company’s promise to transfer the goods or service to the customer is separately identifiable from other promises in the contract. The Company allocates revenue to each distinct performance obligation based on relative standalone selling prices.
Payment terms for sales of fuel cells, infrastructure, and service to customers are typically 30 to 90 days from shipment of the goods. Payment terms on electrolyzer systems are typically based on achievement of milestones over the term of the contract with the customer. Sale/leaseback transactions with financial institutions are invoiced and collected upon transaction closing. Service is prepaid upfront in a majority of the arrangements. The Company does not adjust the transaction price for a significant financing component when the performance obligation is expected to be fulfilled within a year.
The Company has issued to each of Amazon.com NV Investment Holdings LLC and Walmart warrants to purchase shares of the Company’s common stock. The Company presents the provision for common stock warrants within each revenue-related line item on the consolidated statements of operations. This presentation reflects the discount that those common stock warrants represent, and therefore revenue is net of these non-cash charges. The provision of common stock warrants is allocated to the relevant revenue-related line items based upon the expected mix of the revenue for each respective contract. See Note 19, “Warrant Transaction Agreements”, for more details.
Nature of goods and services
The following is a description of principal activities from which the Company generates its revenue.
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| (a) | Sales of equipment, related infrastructure and other |
(i)Sales of fuel cell systems, related infrastructure and equipment
Revenue from sales of fuel cell systems, related infrastructure, and equipment represents sales of our GenDrive units, GenSure stationary backup power units, as well as hydrogen fueling infrastructure.
The Company uses a variety of information sources in determining standalone selling prices for fuel cells systems and the related infrastructure. For GenDrive fuel cells, given the nascent nature of the Company’s market, the Company considers several inputs, including prices from a limited number of standalone sales as well as the Company’s negotiations with customers. The Company also considers its costs to produce fuel cells as well as comparable list prices in estimating standalone selling prices. The Company uses applicable observable evidence from similar products in the market to determine standalone selling prices for GenSure stationary backup power units and hydrogen fueling infrastructure. The
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determination of standalone selling prices of the Company’s performance obligations requires significant judgment, including periodic assessment of pricing approaches and available observable evidence in the market. Once relative standalone selling prices are determined, the Company proportionately allocates the transaction price to each performance obligation within the customer arrangement based upon standalone selling price. The allocated transaction price related to fuel cell systems and spare parts is recognized as revenue at a point in time which usually occurs upon delivery (and occasionally at time of shipment). Revenue on hydrogen infrastructure installations is generally recognized at the point at which transfer of control passes to the customer, which usually occurs upon customer acceptance of the hydrogen infrastructure. The Company uses an input method to determine the amount of revenue to recognize during each reporting period when such revenue is recognized over time, based on the costs incurred to satisfy the performance obligation.
(ii) Sales of electrolyzer systems and solutions
Revenue from sales of electrolyzer systems and solutions represents sales of electrolyzer stacks and systems used to generate hydrogen for various applications including mobility, ammonia production, methanol production, power to gas, and other uses.
The Company uses a variety of information sources in determining standalone selling prices for electrolyzer systems solutions. Electrolyzer stacks are typically sold on a standalone basis and the standalone selling price is the contractual price with the customer. The Company uses an adjusted market assessment approach to determine the standalone selling price of electrolyzer systems. This includes considering both standalone selling prices of the systems by the Company and available information on competitor pricing on similar products. The determination of standalone selling prices of the Company’s performance obligations requires judgment, including periodic assessment of pricing approaches and available observable evidence in the market. Once relative standalone selling prices are determined, the Company proportionately allocates the transaction price to each performance obligation within the customer arrangement based upon standalone selling price. Revenue on electrolyzer systems and stacks is generally recognized at the point at which transfer of control passes to the customer, which usually occurs upon title transfer at shipment or delivery to the customer location. In certain instances, control of electrolyzer systems transfers to the customer over time, and the related revenue is recognized over time as the performance obligation is satisfied. We recognize revenue over time when contract performance results in the creation of a product for which we do not have an alternative use and the contract includes an enforceable right to payment in an amount that corresponds directly with the value of the performance completed. In these instances, we use an input measure (cost-to-total cost or percentage-of-completion method) of progress to determine the amount of revenue to recognize during each reporting period based on the costs incurred to satisfy the performance obligation.
Payments received from customers are recorded within deferred revenue and customer deposits in the consolidated balance sheets until control is transferred. The related cost of such product and installation is also deferred as a component of deferred cost of revenue in the consolidated balance sheets until control is transferred.
(iii) Sales of cryogenic equipment and other
Revenue from sales of cryogenic equipment represents sales of liquefaction system and other cryogenic equipment such as trailers and mobile storage equipment for the distribution of liquefied hydrogen, oxygen, argon, nitrogen and other cryogenic gases.
The Company uses a variety of information sources in determining standalone selling prices for liquefaction systems and cryogenic equipment. Liquefaction systems are typically sold on a standalone basis and the standalone selling price is the contractual price with the customer. The Company uses an adjusted market assessment approach to determine the standalone selling price of liquefaction systems when sold with other equipment. This includes considering both standalone selling prices of the systems by the Company and available information on competitor pricing on similar products. The determination of standalone selling prices of the Company’s performance obligation requires judgment, including periodic assessment of pricing approaches and available observable evidence in the market. Revenue on liquefaction systems is generally recognized over time. Control transfers to the customer over time, and the related revenue is recognized over time as the performance obligation is satisfied. We recognize revenue over time when contract performance results in the creation of a product for which we do not have an alternative use and the contract includes an enforceable right to payment in an amount that corresponds directly with the value of the performance completed. In these instances, we use an input measure of progress to determine the amount of revenue to recognize during each reporting period based on the costs incurred to satisfy the performance obligation.
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Revenue on cryogenic equipment is generally recognized at the point at which transfer of control passes to the customer, which usually occurs upon title transfer at shipment or delivery to the customer location.
Payments received from customers are recorded within deferred revenue and customer deposits in the consolidated balance sheets until control is transferred. The related costs of such product and installation is also deferred as a component of deferred cost of revenue in the consolidated balance sheets until control is transferred.
(b) Services performed on fuel cell systems and related infrastructure
Revenue from services performed on fuel cell systems and related infrastructure represents revenue earned on our service and maintenance contracts and sales of spare parts. The Company uses an adjusted market assessment approach to determine standalone selling prices for services. This approach considers market conditions and constraints while maximizing the use of available observable inputs obtained from a limited number of historical standalone service renewal prices and negotiations with customers. The transaction price allocated to services as discussed above is generally recognized as revenue over time on a straight-line basis over the expected service period, as customers simultaneously receive and consume the benefits of routine, recurring maintenance performed throughout the contract period.
In substantially all of its transactions, the Company sells extended maintenance contracts that generally provide for a five-to-ten-year service period from the date of product installation in exchange for an up-front payment. Services include monitoring, technical support, maintenance and related services. These services are accounted for as a separate performance obligation, and accordingly, revenue generated from these transactions, subject to the proportional allocation of transaction price, is deferred and recognized as revenue over the term of the contract, generally on a straight-line basis. Additionally, the Company may enter into annual service and extended maintenance contracts that are billed monthly. Revenue generated from these transactions is recognized as revenue on a straight-line basis over the term of the contract. Costs are recognized as incurred over the term of the contract. When costs are projected to exceed revenues over the life of the extended maintenance contract, an accrual for loss contracts is recorded. Costs are estimated based upon historical experience and consider the estimated impact of the Company’s cost reduction initiatives, if any. The actual results may differ from these estimates. See “Extended Maintenance Contracts” above.
Extended maintenance contracts generally do not contain customer renewal options. Upon expiration, customers may either negotiate a contract extension or switch to purchasing spare parts and maintaining the fuel cell systems on their own.
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| (c) | Power purchase agreements |
Revenue from PPAs primarily represents payments received from customers who make monthly payments to access the Company’s GenKey solution.
Revenue associated with these agreements is recognized on a straight-line basis over the life of the agreements as the customers simultaneously receive and consume the benefits from the Company’s performance of the services. The customers receive services ratably over the contract term.
In conjunction with entering into a PPA with a customer, the Company may enter into a separate transaction with third-party financial institutions in which the Company receives proceeds from the sale/leaseback transactions of the equipment and the sale of future service revenue. The proceeds from the financial institution are allocated between the sale of equipment and the sale of future service revenue based on the relative standalone selling prices of equipment and service. The proceeds allocated to the sale of future services are recognized as finance obligations. The proceeds allocated to the sale of the equipment are evaluated to determine if the transaction meets the criteria for sale/leaseback accounting. To meet the sale/leaseback criteria, control of the equipment must transfer to the financial institution, which requires among other criteria the leaseback to meet the criteria for an operating lease and the Company must not have a right to repurchase the equipment (unless specific criteria are met). These transactions typically meet the criteria for sale/leaseback accounting and accordingly, the Company recognizes revenue on the sale of the equipment and separately recognizes the leaseback obligations.
The Company recognizes an operating lease liability for the equipment leaseback obligation based on the present value of the future payments to the financial institutions that are attributed to the equipment leaseback. The discount rate
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used to determine the lease liability is the Company’s incremental borrowing rate. The Company also records a right of use asset which is amortized over the term of the leaseback. Rental expense is recognized on a straight-line basis over the life of the leaseback and is included as a cost of power purchase agreements revenue on the consolidated statements of operations.
Certain of the Company’s transactions with financial institutions do not meet the criteria for sale/leaseback accounting and accordingly, no equipment sale is recognized. All proceeds from these transactions are accounted for as finance obligations. The right of use assets related to these transactions are classified as equipment related to the PPAs and fuel delivered to the customers, net in the consolidated balance sheets. The Company uses its transaction-date incremental borrowing rate as the interest rate for its finance obligations that arise from these transactions. No additional adjustments to the incremental borrowing rate have been deemed necessary for the finance obligations that have resulted from the failed sale/leaseback transactions.
In determining whether the sales of fuel cells and other equipment to financial institutions meet the requirements for revenue recognition under sale/leaseback accounting, the Company, as lessee, determines the classification of the lease. The Company estimates certain key inputs to the associated calculations such as: 1) discount rate used to determine the present value of future lease payments, 2) fair value of the fuel cells and equipment, and 3) useful life of the underlying asset(s):
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | ASC 842, Leases (“ASC 842”), requires a lessee to discount its future lease payments using the interest rate implicit in the lease or, if that rate cannot be readily determined, its incremental borrowing rate. Generally, the Company cannot determine the interest rate implicit in its leases because it does not have access to the lessor’s estimated residual value or the amount of the lessor’s deferred initial direct costs. Therefore, the Company generally uses its incremental borrowing rate to estimate the discount rate for each lease. Adjustments that considered the Company’s actual borrowing rate, inclusive of securitization, as well as borrowing rates for companies of similar credit quality were applied in the determination of the incremental borrowing rate. |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | In order for the lease to be classified as an operating lease, the present value of the future lease payments cannot exceed 90% of the fair value of the leased assets. The Company estimates the fair value of the lease assets using the sales prices. |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | In order for a lease to be classified as an operating lease, the lease term cannot exceed 75% (major part) of the estimated useful life of the leased asset. The average estimated useful life of the fuel cells is 10 years, and the average estimated useful life of the hydrogen infrastructure is 20 years. These estimated useful lives are compared to the term of each lease to determine the appropriate lease classification. |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| (d) | Fuel delivered to customers and related equipment |
Revenue associated with fuel delivered to customers represents the sale of hydrogen to customers that has been purchased by the Company from a third party or generated at our hydrogen production plants. The stand-alone selling price is not estimated because it is sold separately and therefore directly observable.
The Company purchases hydrogen fuel from suppliers in most cases (and sometimes produces hydrogen onsite) and sells to its customers. Revenue and cost of revenue related to this fuel is recorded as dispensed and is included in the respective fuel delivered to customers and related equipment lines on the consolidated statements of operations.
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| (e) | Other revenue |
Other revenue includes payments received for technical services that include engineering services, program management services, procurement services and operations, testing and validation services with HyVia. The scope of these services includes mutually agreed upon services as were requested from time to time by HyVia. Other revenue also includes sales of electrolyzer engineering and design services. The scope of these services includes establishing and defining project technical requirements, standards and guidelines as well as assistance in scoping and scheduling of large-scale electrolyzer solutions.
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Impairment
During the fourth quarter of 2024, in connection with the Company’s preparation of its consolidated financial statements, the Company recognized that sales and margin projections were likely not to be met for 2024. Additionally, during the fourth quarter of 2024, in connection with the Company’s preparation of its consolidated financial statements, the Company performed strategic planning, analyzing its various product lines, and it was determined at that time to update the future sales projections and related cash flow projections for certain of those product lines. As a result, there was a reduction in the cash flow projections during the fourth quarter of 2024 to several of the Company’s asset groups indicating that the carrying values of their long-lived assets (including property, plant, and equipment, equipment related to power purchase agreements and fuel delivered to customers, and right of use assets related to operating leases) and finite-lived intangible assets may not be recoverable.
Asset groups are the unit of account for a long-lived asset or assets to be held and used which represent the lowest level for which identifiable cash flows are largely independent of other groups of assets and liabilities. The decrease in cash flow projections for several asset groups was largely attributed to several factors, including the Company failing to meet 2024 sales and margin projections as well as decreased future cash flow projections across certain product lines including stationary, liquefiers and fuel cells for mobility projects related to HyVia. On December 10, 2024, HyVia announced that it entered into legal recovery proceedings recorded by the Commercial Court of Versailles. Additionally, the Company paused certain hydrogen production plant projects during the fourth quarter of 2024. This pause, as well as the decrease in cash flow projections, was primarily due to weakening demand in the global hydrogen market. As a result, the Company tested the recoverability of its long-lived assets and finite-lived intangibles by comparing the carrying values against undiscounted future cash flow projections and determined that an impairment existed.
During the fourth quarter of 2024, a significant amount of property, plant, and equipment were written down to their estimated fair values. The fair value for revenue generating assets was determined using a market approach utilizing prices for similar assets in active markets. The fair value for property, plant, and equipment was determined using a market approach, where available, and where not available, a cost approach. The fair value for equipment related to power purchase agreements and fuel delivered to customers was determined using a discounted cash flow income approach considering estimated market rent. The fair value for right of use assets related to operating leases was determined using a discounted cash flow income approach considering estimated market rent. The fair values for finite-lived intangible assets were determined using the income approach.
The Company recognized impairment charges of $949.3 million during the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to $269.5 million during the year ended December 31, 2023. The increase in impairment was primarily due to impairment charges of $902.2 million resulting from the ASC 360 impairment analysis performed during the fourth quarter of 2024. Of the $902.2 million, $675.5 million was related to property, plant and equipment, $1.6 million was related to equipment related to power purchase agreements and fuel delivered to customers, $145.4 million was related to right of use assets related to operating leases, and $79.7 million was related to finite-lived intangible assets. Additionally, during the fourth quarter of 2024, the Company recorded a $38.3 million impairment charge related to contract assets and other current assets in which the Company determined it would be unable to collect the consideration from a customer contract, impairment charges of $0.3 million related to property, plant and equipment as well as other impairment charges of $0.1 million. Other impairment charges recorded during the year ended December 31, 2024 was $8.4 million, of which $3.0 million related to non-marketable equity securities and $5.4 million related to property, plant and equipment.
The impairment charge of $269.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 was primarily related to the impairment of goodwill of $249.5 million as well as $2.4 million related to contract assets, $9.7 million related to other current assets, $3.1 million related to property, plant and equipment, $4.6 million was related to right of use assets related to operating leases and $0.2 million related to equipment related to power purchase agreements and fuel delivered to customers.
To the extent there are further changes in market conditions or the performance of the Company’s long-lived assets, there is a possibility that the Company could incur additional impairment charges in the future.
Inventory Valuation
Inventories are valued at the lower of cost, determined on a first-in, first-out basis, and net realizable value. All inventory, including spare parts inventory held at service locations, is not relieved until the customer has received the
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product, at which time the customer obtains control of the goods. We maintain inventory levels adequate for our short-term needs within the next twelve months based upon present levels of production. An allowance for potential non-saleable inventory due to damaged, excess stock or obsolescence is based upon a detailed review of inventory, past history, and expected usage. The Company's estimate of the reserves utilizes certain inputs and involves judgment. The Company evaluates excess and obsolescence and lower of cost or net realizable value inventory reserves on a quarterly basis and, as necessary, reserves inventory based upon a variety of factors, including historical usage, forecasted usage and sales, product obsolescence, anticipated selling price, and anticipated cost to complete to determine product margin and other factors. We review all contracts related to product lines with projected negative margins that are arranged to be sold at a loss in the future as the basis for a lower of cost or net realizable value adjustment.
Common Stock Warrant Accounting
The Company accounts for common stock warrants as either derivative liabilities or as equity instruments depending on the specific terms of the respective warrant agreements. Common stock warrants that meet certain applicable requirements of ASC Subtopic 815-40, Derivatives and Hedging – Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity, and other related guidance, including the ability of the Company to settle the warrants without the issuance of registered shares or the absence of rights of the grantee to require cash settlement, are accounted for as equity instruments. The Company classifies these equity instruments within additional paid-in capital on the consolidated balance sheets.
Common stock warrants accounted for as equity instruments represent the warrants issued to Amazon and Walmart as discussed in Note 19, “Warrant Transaction Agreements”. The Company adopted FASB ASU 2019-08, Compensation – Stock Compensation (Topic 718) and Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606), which requires entities to measure and classify share-based payment awards granted to a customer.
In order to calculate warrant charges, the Company used the Black-Scholes pricing model, which required key inputs including volatility and risk-free interest rate and certain unobservable inputs for which there is little or no market data, requiring the Company to develop its own assumptions. The Company estimated the fair value of unvested warrants, considered to be probable of vesting, at the time. Based on that estimated fair value, the Company determined warrant charges, which are recorded as a reduction of revenue in the consolidated statements of operations.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements
In November 2023, ASU 2023-07, Improvements to Reportable Segment Disclosures, was issued to improve reportable segment disclosure requirements, primarily through enhanced disclosures about significant segment expenses. The purpose of the amendments is to enable investors to better understand an entity’s overall performance and assess potential future cash flows. This update was effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2023. Refer to Note 24, “Segment and Geographic Area Reporting”.
Recently Issued and Not Yet Adopted Accounting Pronouncements
In November 2024, ASU 2024-04, Debt with Conversion and Other Options, was issued to improve the relevance and consistency in application of the induced conversion guidance in Subtopic 470-20. This standard is effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2025, including interim periods within those fiscal years. The Company has not yet adopted ASU 2024-04 and is still evaluating the impact of the adoption on its consolidated financial statements.
In November 2024, ASU 2024-03, Disaggregation of Income Statement Expenses, was issued which requires disclosure in the notes to the financial statements of specified information about certain costs and expenses. This standard is effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2026, and interim periods within annual periods beginning after December 15, 2027, on a prospective basis, with early adoption and retrospective application permitted. The Company has not yet adopted ASU 2024-03 and is still evaluating the impact of the adoption on its consolidated financial statements.
In December 2023, ASU 2023-09, Improvements to Income Tax Disclosures, was issued to require public business entities to annually disclose specific categories in the rate reconciliation and provide additional information for reconciling items that meet a quantitative threshold. Additionally, annual disclosures on income taxes paid will be required
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to be further disaggregated by federal, state, and foreign taxes. This update is effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2024. The Company has not yet adopted ASU 2023-09 and is still evaluating the impact of the adoption on its consolidated financial statements.
Climate Disclosures
In March 2024, the SEC issued Release No. 33-11275, The Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors, which includes final rules that enhance the transparency of climate-related disclosures and require companies to disclose material climate-related risks; activities to mitigate or adapt to such risks; information about the board of directors' oversight of climate-related risks and management’s role in managing material climate-related risks; and information on any climate-related targets or goals that are material to the registrant's business, results of operations, or financial condition. Companies are also required to disclose the financial statement effects of severe weather events and other natural conditions in the notes to the financial statements, and certain large companies are also required to disclose Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions, when material. As a large accelerated filer, most disclosure requirements are effective for the Company beginning with the year ending December 31, 2025. The SEC has been the subject of various lawsuits since adopting these rules. As a result of ongoing litigation, the SEC issued an order in April 2024 to stay the effectiveness of the rules while judicial review is pending. We are continuing to monitor developments associated with these rules and are currently evaluating the impact of these rules on our consolidated financial statements and related disclosures.