Carbonate fuel cell technology developer FuelCell Energy (NASDAQ: FCEL) missed Wall Street’s revenue expectations in Q4 CY2025, but sales rose 60.7% year on year to $30.53 million. Its non-GAAP loss of $0.52 per share was 23.1% above analysts’ consensus estimates.

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“During the first fiscal quarter, we delivered strong revenue growth, sharpened operating discipline, and strengthened our liquidity position — all while positioning FuelCell Energy to capture the defining opportunity of the AI era,” said Jason Few, President and Chief Executive Officer of FuelCell Energy.

Company Overview

Founded in 1969, FuelCell Energy (NASDAQ: FCEL) is a leading manufacturer and developer of carbonate fuel cell technology for stationary power generation.

Revenue Growth

A company’s long-term performance is an indicator of its overall quality. Any business can put up a good quarter or two, but many enduring ones grow for years. Over the last five years, FuelCell Energy grew its sales at an incredible 19.6% compounded annual growth rate. Its growth surpassed the average industrials company and shows its offerings resonate with customers, a great starting point for our analysis.

We at StockStory place the most emphasis on long-term growth, but within industrials, a half-decade historical view may miss cycles, industry trends, or a company capitalizing on catalysts such as a new contract win or a successful product line. FuelCell Energy’s annualized revenue growth of 28.3% over the last two years is above its five-year trend, suggesting its demand was strong and recently accelerated.

FuelCell Energy also reports its backlog, or the value of its outstanding orders that have not yet been executed or delivered. FuelCell Energy’s backlog reached $1.17 billion in the latest quarter and averaged 8.5% year-on-year growth over the last two years. Because this number is lower than its revenue growth, we can see the company fulfilled orders at a faster rate than it added new orders to the backlog. This implies FuelCell Energy was operating efficiently but raises questions about the health of its sales pipeline.

This quarter, FuelCell Energy achieved a magnificent 60.7% year-on-year revenue growth rate, but its $30.53 million of revenue fell short of Wall Street’s lofty estimates.

Looking ahead, sell-side analysts expect revenue to grow 21.4% over the next 12 months, a deceleration versus the last two years. Despite the slowdown, this projection is admirable and implies the market is forecasting success for its products and services.

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Operating Margin

Operating margin is one of the best measures of profitability because it tells us how much money a company takes home after procuring and manufacturing its products, marketing and selling those products, and most importantly, keeping them relevant through research and development.

FuelCell Energy’s operating margin has risen over the last 12 months, but it still averaged negative 116% over the last five years. This is due to its large expense base and inefficient cost structure. It might have a shot at long-term profitability if it can scale quickly and gain operating leverage.

Looking at the trend in its profitability, FuelCell Energy’s operating margin might fluctuated slightly but has generally stayed the same over the last five years. This raises questions about the company’s expense base because its revenue growth should have given it leverage on its fixed costs, resulting in better economies of scale and profitability.

In Q4, FuelCell Energy generated a negative 86.1% operating margin.

Earnings Per Share

Revenue trends explain a company’s historical growth, but the long-term change in earnings per share (EPS) points to the profitability of that growth – for example, a company could inflate its sales through excessive spending on advertising and promotions.

Although FuelCell Energy’s full-year earnings are still negative, it reduced its losses and improved its EPS by 12.7% annually over the last five years. The next few quarters will be critical for assessing its long-term profitability. We hope to see an inflection point soon.

Like with revenue, we analyze EPS over a more recent period because it can provide insight into an emerging theme or development for the business.

For FuelCell Energy, its two-year annual EPS growth of 31.9% was higher than its five-year trend. We love it when earnings improve, but a caveat is that its EPS is still in the red.

In Q4, FuelCell Energy reported adjusted EPS of negative $0.52, up from negative $1.44 in the same quarter last year. This print easily cleared analysts’ estimates, and shareholders should be content with the results. Over the next 12 months, Wall Street expects FuelCell Energy to improve its earnings losses. Analysts forecast its full-year EPS of negative $4.22 will advance to negative $2.38.

Key Takeaways from FuelCell Energy’s Q4 Results

It was good to see FuelCell Energy beat analysts’ EPS expectations this quarter. On the other hand, its revenue missed and its EBITDA fell short of Wall Street’s estimates. Overall, this quarter could have been better. The stock traded down 3.6% to $7.33 immediately after reporting.

FuelCell Energy underperformed this quarter, but does that create an opportunity to invest right now? If you’re making that decision, you should consider the bigger picture of valuation, business qualities, as well as the latest earnings. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here (it’s free).