Stock Ideas From Data Mining Technical Publications: A Look into Fuel Cells

In this report, we have crawled through over ten years of technical publications to analyze the Fuel Cell space. The top five companies we screen from a technology perspective are Toyota Motor (7203 JP), Honda Motor (7267 JP), Hyundai Motor Co (005380 KS), General Motors Co (GM US), and Bloom Energy Corp (BE US)

Technologically automakers (Japanese in particular) dominate the fuel cell sector. Among pure plays, Bloom Energy Corp (BE US) and Ballard Power Systems (BLDP CN) are best positioned and perhaps the only ones who come somewhat close to the auto OEMs from a technology perspective. Some lesser-known private players that have gained traction in technological terms over the last five years are Dioxide Materials, 24M Technologies, and Bayotech.

Currently, batteries have a decisive advantage over fuel cells, and as a business proposition, fuel cells have so far mostly failed to live up to their technological promise. However, fuel cells using hydrogen generated from renewables offer a much lower environmental impact across their lifecycle. This sustains investor interest in the hope that system price declines, economies of scale, lower cost of renewable energy generation, and maturation as a business could make FC competitive longer term.