Plug Power becoming 'go-to solution' for big box retailers, says H.C. Wainwright

H.C. Wainwright analyst Amit Dayal maintains a Buy rating on Plug Power (PLUG) with a $14 price target after the company announced that it is providing U.K.-based supermarket Asda, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Walmart (WMT), with hydrogen fuel cell solutions to power the lift truck fleet within the retailer's supply chain network. The stock in late morning trading is up 14% to $8.81. Plug's hydrogen fuel cell powered forklifts are "quickly becoming the go-to solution" for big box retailers in the U.S. and Europe, Dayal tells investors in a research note. Following recent acquisitions, these deployments should get increasingly profitable and supportive to cash flows, adds the analyst. Dayal believes there are well over 5M forklifts in operation globally, with over a million units sold annually, and notes that Plug is still only at 32,000 units deployed as of the end of Q1, "giving it an extensive runway for growth ahead."