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Automakers Ford and GM are trying to figure out what to do with battery factories now that EV sales are falling way short of forecasts View More
U.S. automakers are increasingly entering the energy storage business as they pivot away from electric vehicles and try make use of battery factories that cost billions of dollars.Energy storage uses a lot of the same underlying technology as EV batteries to store power for homes, businesses and even utilities. Tesla has been investing in this area for at least a decade. Others automakers, such as Ford and GM, made significant announcements in 2025, just as uncertainty about the near future of EV sales began to grow. Electricity demand is growing after years of relatively flat prices, largely fueled by the rise of data centers, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Electrification â or gas heaters, stoves and other appliances moving to electric ones â is also a factor, said Ramteen Sioshansi, a professor of engineering at Carnegie Mellon University who studies the electricity industry. But this market is still relatively new, he added, and how much demand there will be in the near future is speculative. "If a lot of auto manufacturers head in this direction, you end up with a glut of supply and not enough demand to absorb it," he said. "It could be a move where the vehicle manufacturers essentially find themselves in the same position they are right now with respect to electric vehicle demand." Battery power Renewable energy sources such as solar panels and wind turbines can have an "intermittency problem," meaning they only generate power when the sun is shining or a breeze is blowing â and that might not be when it's needed. Batteries can fill the gap by collecting and stockpiling electricity to use at another time or sell it back to the grid. Batteries can also collect energy from the grid at times when rates are lower, like at night. Energy-hungry businesses can use that storage to cut electricity costs. "It's a perfectly valid way of operating," said Pete Tillotson, senior research analyst at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence. "And it will form a revenue stream for the majority of assets on the grid." Automakers Ford said in December it would convert a Kentucky battery factory it had recently built with partner SK On to make batteries for energy storage. It also plans to devote some factory space to make cells for residential storage at a factory in Marshall, Michigan. Ford is still using the Marshall plant to make batteries for an upcoming midsize electric truck. It has spent about $10 billion on both the Kentucky and Michigan factories and is spending another $2 billion to grow the energy business, according to the company. Tesla's Energy division has been around since 2015, when CEO Elon Musk unveiled the company's Powerwall and Powerpack batteries. It has become a bright spot for Tesla, as its own EV market sales and share have fallen. Margins in that business are about double those of Tesla's automotive business, and its revenue is now about 20% of the EV maker's total. Fred Closter checks his Tesla Powerwall battery system on Thursday Feb. 17, 2022, at his home in Boynton Beach. Susan Stocker | Sun Sentinel | Getty Images Ford's crosstown rival General Motors founded GM Energy several years ago, then released a Tesla-like residential solar product called the PowerBank in October 2024. Last year, it said it would partner with Redwood Materials to used both old and new EV batteries for energy storage. GM Energy said in October that sales had quintupled since January, with 30% month over month revenue growth. Apart from the PowerBank batteries, the division also sells charging adapters and tech for using the vehicle itself as a backup battery for a home. Demand The cost of battery storage systems is significantly lower than forecasts were projecting about 15 years ago, Sioshansi said. There is also an all but guaranteed customer base. Utilities are required by law in some states to at least consider deploying energy storage, and California has set energy storage targets.Residential market-batteries, such as the Tesla Powerwall or GM PowerBank, can supplement a solar panel on the roof, act as a backup power source for blackouts or help with selling excess power back to the grid. But the relatively high cost of these systems for homeowners is liable to limit demand, Sioshansi said. Commercial uses vary. Demand from businesses like data centers is expected to surge. GM and Redwood Materials cited Department of Energy research showing a potential threefold jump in energy demand by 2028 over 2023 levels. Data centers that need a lot of power could see energy storage as a needed solution in the face of the shortfall. Bill Ford, Executive Chairman of Ford Motor Company, announces at a press conference that Ford will be partnering with the worlds largest battery company, a China-based company called Contemporary Amperex Technology, to create an electric-vehicle battery plant in Marshall, Michigan, on February 13, 2023 in Romulus, Michigan. Bill Pugliano | Getty Images Meanwhile, EV sales in the U.S. dropped from about 10% of the new car market in the third quarter of 2025 to just under 6% the following quarter. Ford said in 2023 the company was expecting EV sales to be about 45% of new car sales by 2030. Now the forecast is 9% to 18%, Ford spokesperson Emma Bergg told CNBC. But energy storage is a very different business from selling cars. Though batteries share the same underlying technology, they are somewhat different technically; vehicle batteries have to be optimized for lightweight and compact shape and those for energy storage do not, for example. "They're significantly different products," Sioshansi said. "The customer, and how you need to market and sell these products, is going to look different compared to what a company like, take GM as an example, is accustomed to doing."Ford has no direct experience in energy storage, Tillotson said. However, he added, it does have experience working with CATL, the world's largest battery maker, which is providing battery tech for Ford's Marshall factory. The challenge is that these firms will have to compete against established players."You've then got relative skills gap â finding the workforce to be able to produce these quite complicated cutting-edge technologies against a competitor that has mastered scale and performance at scale," Tillotson said. "That will prove challenging. And that's not to say that I don't think the market could get there in the U.S., but it would have to take a relatively long time to get there unless they can find a workforce."One carrot for firms like Ford is a push toward U.S. manufacturing. There are tax credit incentives in the energy industry for projects that avoid certain countries considered "foreign entities of concern." In the case of energy storage, that means China, which is the world's largest producer of energy storage tech. "That's the big incentive to shift towards that technology," Tillotson said.
The hybrid project includes 108 MWp of contracted solar capacity and 25 MW of installed wind capacity, with a power purchase agreement signed with MSEDCL in November 2024. View More
Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that "we've been told that the killing in Iran is stopping. It's stopped. It's stopping, and there's no plan for executions." View More
US President Donald Trump speaks during a signing ceremony in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. Francis Chung | Politico | Bloomberg | Getty Images Oil prices fell more than 1% Wednesday after President Donald Trump signaled he might not attack Iran.U.S. crude oil fell 95 cents, or 1.55%, to $60.20 per barrel by 4:17 p.m. ET. Global benchmark Brent was down 93 cents, or 1.42%, to $64.54. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that "we've been told that the killing in Iran is stopping. It's stopped. It's stopping and there's no plan for executions." The president had previously threatened to take "very strong action" against the Islamic Republic if it executes protestors. Oil prices had closed more than 1% higher Wednesday, but suddenly swung lower in extended trading as the market interpreted Trump's remarks as a sign that strikes might not be imminent.Trump said the U.S. is monitoring the situation in Iran when asked directly whether military action is off the table. Pedestrians pass a burned out building on Jan. 10, 2026 in Tehran, Iran.Getty Images | Getty Images "We're going to watch it and see what the process is," the president said. "But we were given a very good statement by people that are aware of what's going on. Everybody's talking about a lot of executions were taking place today. We were just told no executions. I hope that's true. That's a big thing."Iranian security forces have launched a crackdown against large-scale demonstrations with hundreds of people reportedly dead. The government has cut off Internet access making it difficult for the outside world to verify how the situation on the ground is developing. Iran is an OPEC member and a signficiant crude oil producer. Traders are watching to see if the social unrest in the Islamic Republic disrupts oil supplies. Catch up on the latest energy news from CNBC Pro:Morgan Stanley says nuclear power is gaining momentum, recommends these stocksThis solar stock has nearly 30% upside, Wells Fargo saysThis stock could benefit as Trump tries to put a nuclear reactor on the moon, according to BofATrack all the latest coverage of oil prices and the oil and gas industry at CNBC.com.
With a total investment of ?3,000 crore, the project combines large-scale solar generation with battery storage, enabling round-the-clock, reliable renewable power View More
The firm will supply and instal 3,263 off-grid DC solar photovoltaic water pumping systems under the PM-KUSUM B Scheme View More
IREDA’s Q3 profit jumped 38% on strong interest income and lower funding costs, but legacy NPAs and lumpy exposures continue to cloud the outlook. View More
IREDA’s net profit surged to ?584.9 crore in Q3 FY25-26, up from ?425.4 crore in the same quarter last year View More
How companies are gearing up to manufacture next-gen modules that can significantly step up power generation View More
Can Bloom Energy's high-flying stock, fueled by generating onsite power for AI data centers, steer clear of bubble risks? View More
Bloom Energy power storage equipment, San Ramon, California.Smith Collection | Gado | Archive Photos | Getty Images A million bubbles were swirling inside each glass of Champagne poured on New Year's Eve â which seems about like the number of times artificial intelligence bubbles have been mentioned by tech investors, economists and media pundits in recent months. Bubble fears surrounds stocks within the Magnificent 7 â Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla â as well as Oracle and Softbank and other tech companies' multi-billion-dollar investments in the unrelenting buildout of humungous data centers to power their AI systems. Data centers are expected to require roughly $7 trillion in capital outlays by 2030, according to a report by McKinsey & Co. The bubble speculations rage almost daily as breaking news and earnings reports send Mag 7 stock prices rising and falling, leading analysts to constantly update their buy, sell or hold recommendations.That's essentially the 30,000-foot, macroeconomic view of AI from Wall Street's bulls and bears. For a zoomed-in, micro look at the volatility surrounding AI, there may be no better example of adjacent players in the space than Bloom Energy. A one-time privately funded startup darling from Silicon Valley's initial push into renewable energy which grabbed some marquee customers early on (e.g. Google and Walmart), Bloom was often in the red since its founding in 2001. Following its 2018 IPO at a price of $15 per share, it has been an unremarkable stock, trading near that IPO price as recently as last April. But Bloom has skyrocketed roughly 400% over the past year, ignited by its emergence as a standalone, onsite power supplier for electricity-guzzling AI data centers. It uses stacks of solid oxide fuel cells to provide an immediate, always-on alternative to connecting to public utilities' strained grids. Bloom is now among the priciest energy stocks, at 125 times forward earnings.Bloom's performance chart for 2025 resembles one depicting the elevation trajectory from flat, mile-high Denver west to 12,000-foot-high Rocky Mountain National Park. The stock price had come back down to Earth lately â from a 52-week high of $147.86 in November on the strength of strong third-quarter earnings and a major deal with utility giant American Electric Power. But it continues to fluctuate in reaction to good and bad news regarding its AI customers, with the latest boost coming on Thursday. Bloom's stock soared on Thursday and Friday with the news that a Wyoming data center project had won a key approval. The 1.8 GW facility is expected to include 900 MW of Bloom's fuel cells, representing about $3 billion in revenue for the company in coming years, according to an analysis from Morgan Stanley's David Arcaro. In a related development, AEP announced a $2.65 billion deal to acquire a substantial portion of Bloom's fuel cells as part of a deal with an unnamed customer, presumably the same Wyoming data center. With the two-day spike, Bloom's stock rose roughly 30% last week, closing over $134 on Friday with a valuation near $32 billion. Stock Chart IconStock chart iconBloom Energy performance since 2018 IPO. Bloom's profitability remains much more modest than its revenue or stock growth. On October 28, the company reported third-quarter revenue of $519 million, up 57% year over year. It posted a net profit of $7.8 million, compared to a $9.7 million loss a year earlier.On Wall Street, the bulls have the upper hand over the bears in the narrative, and that has paid off handsomely for investors, but there are skeptics. Across the 26 analysts covering Bloom, five hold sell or strong sell ratings. The average price target of $115 per share â although below its current share price after last week's rapid runup â remains well above bearish bets, such as Jefferies' price target of $53.San Jose-based Bloom has installed its proprietary fuel cells â which primarily run on liquid natural gas, but also biogas and hydrogen, resulting in lower emissions â at more than 1,200 facilities covering a swath of industries, including manufacturing, retail, health care, biotech and telecom, since 2008. In addition to Walmart and Google, initial customers included Google, Coca-Cola, Cox Enterprises, FedEx, and Staples. In July 2024, CoreWeave, a cloud-computing company that has risen over 90% since its 2025 IPO and is often mentioned among AI stock bubble fears, became Bloom's first AI data center partner, joined since by Oracle, Equinix and AEP.At the dizzying rate that data centers are being built in the U.S., there's no end in sight for electricity needed to power them. "Bloom Energy has 1.5 gigawatts of fuel cells deployed globally," said Aman Joshi, the company's chief commercial officer, with more than 400 megawatts devoted to data centers. "Equinix, our flagship customer, has more than 100 megawatts deployed across 20 sites." Bloom is currently producing 1 GW of fuel cell capacity at its lone manufacturing facility in Fremont, California, Joshi said, and "we've publicly announced we are doing 2 gigawatts [by December 2026]."There are nearly 3,800 data centers are in the U.S, according to Data Center Map, an industry resource for data center research. Through 2028, another 280 or so are expected to come online. The Bank of America Institute has reported that U.S. electricity demand is expected to grow 2.5% annually over the next decade, five times faster than the growth rate over the past decade.AI stock valuations and the power sector The sustainability of Bloom's stock price will rely on continued revenue growth and improved profitability, but at a macro level, access to capital to scale up production of fuel cells, and ability to compete with other power providers â all of which are predicated on the continued surge in data center construction. Bloom is expected to report its fourth quarter and full-year earnings for 2025 on Feb. 26.Some analysts contend that the real bottleneck in the data center buildout is power, or as OpenAI CFO Sara Friar put it to CNBC last September, "The real bottleneck isn't money. It's power.". "The bubble AI companies are facing is going to be who has planned logistically to connect their facility to power infrastructure, and maybe even further downstream to fuel infrastructure for that power," said Zachary Krause, an energy analyst at East Daley Analytics who covers the data center industry. "And that's why I don't think Bloom is on the bubble. Their business model is very strong right now." In addition to the lucrative deals Bloom signed with hyperscalers last year, in October it entered into a $5-billion strategic partnership with Brookfield Asset Management, the world's largest AI infrastructure investor, to deploy Bloom's fuel cell technology, with Bloom CEO KR Sridhar describing the company as "the preferred onsite provider for Brookfield's trillion-dollar infrastructure portfolio" during its October earnings call. "Brookfield has invested $50 billion in AI opportunities and is tripling the size of its AI strategy over the next three years," he said on the call.The deal creates multiple benefits for Bloom, according to Oppenheimer analysts, including higher sales. The concentration of Bloom fuel cells will provide service efficiencies, the analysts wrote in a research note, while Brookfield can help provide financing for customers looking to lease fuel cells. "We expect all of these dynamics to support above-consensus sales growth and margin expansion," they said.Evercore analysts said that the joint venture confirms Bloom's ability to be an essential player in the energy buildout to support AI. It underscores a key point for the industry, which is "speed to power is paramount," they wrote.While the most recent quarterly results came in above expectations, Wall Street bears have pointed to aggressive assumptions about the way these deals will play out in the years ahead. The rapid rise in shares in the latter part of this past week was similar in magnitude to what occurred after the Brookfield deal was announced. At that time, Bank of America analyst team, who have held a sell rating on Bloom Energy, said they see risk in a Street that is "assuming 5-yr perfection" and viewing these deals as a near-term earnings catalyst rather than as gradual deployments. "A strategic win, yes â but the market is paying today for a decade of delivery," Bank of America analysts wrote in an October research note. "Investors continue to treat Bloom's major customer announcements as additive backlog rather than potential pipelines. ... we view that as aggressive," they wrote. Bank of America did raise its price target from $26 to $39 after the most recent earnings though it still rates the stock at a sell. watch nowVIDEO5:3505:35Bloom Energy CEO K.R. Sridhar: AI spend and infrastructure buildout will last for a long timeThe Exchange In late December, Bloom received another capital infusion, securing a $600-million multi-currency credit facility with Wells Fargo. It will permit cash withdrawn from the facility to finance capex, including international projects, such as in South Korea, where Bloom has a distribution agreement in place with SK Ecoplant.With those capital resources, plus around $595 million in cash reserves as of September 30, Joshi foresees no financial constraints in scaling up to 2 GW this year. "Our fuel cells are printed," he said, adding that "our raw material sources are extremely diversified. It's just a matter of us [adding] one more printing line, which will take about $100-$150 million of investment."In fact, Bloom has been able to lower costs by about 10% every year, said UBS analyst Manav Gupta, "and they are very confident they can increase from these levels because, until now, the economies of scale have not kicked in." The Fremont production facility can be expanded up to 5 GW of production capacity, he said, although "KR is the kind of person who will not add capacity until he sees the orders," Gupta said. He anticipates that Oracle and AEP will upsize their fuel cell orders in the next few months, and that Google, Microsoft or Meta will soon sign on as new data center customers. (As Bloom's very first customer, Google only used it to power a portion of its headquarters in Mountain View, California.) "Those are the near-term catalysts that I'm looking for," Gupta said.Analysts in general expect Bloom to report an even stronger fourth quarter, ending 2025 with $1.9 billion in sales and forecasting $2.46 billion this year, but volatility is likely to remain part of the stock story. Indeed, Bloom shares have experienced 76 moves greater than 5% over the last year. Thursday and Friday's upturn exemplified the stock's rollercoaster ride, starkly contrasted against last year's low of $15.15 on April 9. Bloom's shares fell 17.3% in November, even as fundamentals remained strong. On December 4, shares spiked more than 13% intraday. Four days later, the stock fell 6.2%, while still being up 24% over the prior two weeks.In terms of competition, Bloom is considered the go-to for standalone power for data centers. Plug Power's hydrogen fuel cells are considerably more expensive to operate vs. LNG, so they are installed mostly as a backup source. Gupta dismissed FuelCell Energy as a rival, saying it "is probably 10 or maybe 15 years behind on technology from where Bloom was 10 years ago."Both of those stocks have seen significant losses in share price over the past year.Another 2025 stock boomer, GE Vernova, has LNG turbines that are utilized as backup power sources at data centers, and an 80 GW backlog of orders, which will take the company into 2029 to fulfill, CEO Scott Strazik recently told investors. In the meantime, however, GE Vernova is developing fuel cell technology, different from Bloom's, that it expects to offer data centers in two to three years.Longer-term, industry watchers expect that nuclear reactors â large, traditional facilities and small modular reactors â as well as wind and solar sources, backed up by more efficient storage batteries, will be viable options for powering data centers. There's even talk of building solar-powered data centers in outer space.Those options are years away from being fully developed, though, making Bloom a right-now power solution for data center operators. "They have a good first-mover advantage in gaining entrenchment, where they're going to see a huge spike in use," Krause said.For investors, especially after the run the stock has already been on, Bloom is a market bet that requires deep conviction. "This is not a stock for the faint of heart," said Andrew Rocco, an analyst at Zacks Investment Research. It's going to be volatile, he said, but added, "I expect these guys to grow high double digits or even triple digits over the next two to three years." watch nowVIDEO1:1701:17Cramerâs Mad Dash: Bloom EnergySquawk on the Street