FuelCell Energy shares hold steady, despite widened fourth-quarter loss

After the close last night, FuelCell Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: FCEL) reported that its fourth-quarter loss widened to $24.3 million, or 35 cents per share, compared to its year-ago loss of 25 cents per share. Ahead of the report, analysts were expecting FCEL to swallow a slightly more modest quarterly loss of 32 cents per share, according to First Call. Total revenues rose to $26.2 million for the quarter, outpacing the consensus estimate of $25.6 million. Product sales and revenues for the period ballooned by 113% year-over-year, arriving at $23.3 million.

FCEL's bottom line took a hit during the quarter as costs climbed, with total costs and expenses swelling to $48.9 million, up nearly 46% from last year. The company's backlog is also looking bloated, up to $87.6 million from $57.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2007.

For the full fiscal year, FuelCell recorded a net loss of $96.6 million, or $1.41 per share, while revenue arrived at $100.74 million. Analysts predicted an annual loss of $1.37 per share on $100.16 million.

Despite the mixed report, FCEL shares are fractionally higher this afternoon. Heading into the earnings release, option players aligned themselves bearishly. During the past 10 days, traders on the International Securities Exchange (ISE) bought to open 1.53 puts for every call on the stock. Looking back over the previous 20 trading days, FCEL garnered a buy-to-open put/call ratio of 4.86 on the ISE and the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE).

In other words, investors purchased nearly five times more bearish bets than bullish in the four-week period leading up to the earnings report. This heavily pessimistic activity from speculators suggests that expectations were low for FuelCell's quarterly figures. The negative sentiment from investors has no doubt helped to cushion the blow of the company's fourth-quarter and full-year profit shortfalls.

Elizabeth Harrow is an analyst and financial writer in the research department at Schaeffer's Investment Research. She is featured in the video series Schaeffer's Daily Q&A on SchaeffersResearch.com.