Plug in the power (NASDAQ: CAP) the stock has been a roller coaster. At times over the past five years, stocks have soared more than 2,400%. At other times, stocks lost 90% of their value.
If you had bought $500 worth of Plug Power stock five years ago and held on, how much would you have today?
Plug Power as an investment
The power of the socket is a hydrogen stock. Demand for hydrogen is relatively low today, but in the coming decades hydrogen could become a staple of the global economy due to growing demand for renewable energy.
That potential outcome remains a long way off, and the market has been through a severe boom-and-bust cycle with Plug Power stock based on fluctuating expectations of where demand for hydrogen fuel will end up. In 2020 and 2021, for example, investor interest in renewable energy stocks has increased sharply, supported by large government investments like $278 billion provided in the Inflation Reduction Act for new spending on renewable energy projects. Plug Power’s management team rushed to improve its sales forecast, telling the market that it expects to generate $1.7 billion in sales by 2024, up from a previous estimate of $1.2 billion. billion dollars.
The target quickly proved too aggressive. Last year’s sales, for example, were just $891 million. Its technology, for its part, faces strong competition. Financially, the company is struggling to remain solvent. It appears to rely on government loans to survive, as announced this week by the U.S. Department of Energy’s granting of a $1.66 billion loan.
After this boom and bust cycle, how much would a $500 investment be worth today? After five years, you would only have $732. Invest in S&P500 the index, for comparison, would have increased from $500 to around $1,000. Plug Power is a very volatile stock with huge expectations. But so far, long-term shareholders have had to pay the price.
Should you invest $1,000 in Plug Power right now?
Before buying Plug Power stock, consider this:
THE Motley Fool Stock Advisor The analyst team has just identified what they think is the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now…and Plug Power wasn’t one of them. The 10 selected stocks could produce monster returns in the years to come.
Consider when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005…if you had invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you would have $578,143!*
Equity Advisor provides investors with an easy-to-follow plan for success, including portfolio building advice, regular analyst updates, and two new stock picks each month. THE Equity Advisor the service has more than quadrupled the return of the S&P 500 since 2002*.
*Stock Advisor returns May 13, 2024
Ryan Vanzo has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the securities mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
If You Invested $500 in a Power Supply Stock 5 Years Ago, Here’s How Much You’d Have Today was originally published by The Motley Fool
