Investment Talk: Ballard Power Systems Inc

Sound bite for Twitter is: Industrial Sector Stock. Results of stock price testing is that the stock price is probably relatively cheap. There are no dividends on this stock, so no dividend yield and no Dividend Payout Ratios (DPR). See my spreadsheet on Ballard Power Systems Inc.

Is it a good company at a reasonable price? This company has money from selling shares. It does have revenue but it has not earned any profit. It is testing as cheap, but cheap does not make it a good deal. Analysts give every recommendation, so there is a wide range of opinion on this stock.

I do not own this stock of Ballard Power Systems Inc (TSX-BLDP, NASDAQ-BLDP), but I used to. Back in 1997, I read about Ballard and fell in love with the idea of cars running with fuel cells. I could help save the environment and also make some money. It was very attractive. I sold this stock in 2006 because it had lost its attraction. It did not seem that Ballard fuel cells would be in any car anytime soon. I was ahead in 2000, but the stock started to fall in October 2000 and never recovered. In the end, I lost money on the stock after having it for over 8 years. My loss was 5.32% per year.

When I was updating my spreadsheet, I noticed that this stock had been recovering for a while and it reached a peak ($52.23) in 2021, but the company has been declining ever since. By December 2024 it was just $2.39. The stock price was down by 51% in 2024 and it is easy to see why. Revenue is down. Earnings losses are high. Operations Cash Flow is a higher negative.

If you had invested in this company in December 2014, for $1,000.14 you would have bought 422 shares at $2.37 per share. In December 2024, after 10 years you would have received $0.00 in dividends. The stock would be worth $1,008.58. Your total return would have been $1,008.58. This would be a total return of 0.08% per year with 0.08% from capital gain and 0.00% from dividends.

Cost	Tot. Cost	Shares	Years	Dividends	Stock Val	Tot Ret
$2.37	$1,000.14	422	10	$0.00	$1,008.58	$1,008.58

There are no dividends on this stock, so there is no dividend yield and no Dividend Payout Ratios (DPR).

Debt Ratios are good. The Long Term Debt/Market Cap Ratio for 2024 is good at 0.04 and currently at 0.04. The Liquidity Ratio for 2024 is good at 9.28 and 9.00 currently. If you added in Cash Flow after dividends, the ratios go down to 7.82 and currently to 8.02. The Debt Ratio for 2024 is good at 7.45 and 7.36currently. The Leverage and Debt/Equity Ratios for 2024 are good at 1.16 and 0.16 and currently at 1.16 and 0.16.

Type	Year End	Ratio Curr
Lg Term R	0.04	0.04
Intang/GW	0.00	0.00
Liquidity	9.25	9.00
Liq. + CF	7.82	8.02
Debt Ratio	7.45	7.36
Leverage	1.16	1.16
D/E Ratio	0.16	0.16

The Total Return per year is shown below for years of 5 to 29 to the end of 2024 in CDN$. Under the Capital Gain column is the portion of the Total Return attributable to capital gains. Under the Dividend column is the portion of the Total Return attributable to dividends. See chart below.

From	Years	Div. Gth	Tot Ret	Cap Gain	Div.
2019	5	0.00%	-23.76%	-23.76%	0.00%
2014	10	0.00%	0.08%	0.08%	0.00%
2009	15	0.00%	1.23%	1.23%	0.00%
2004	20	0.00%	-5.89%	-5.89%	0.00%
1999	25	0.00%	-10.72%	-10.72%	0.00%
1995	29	0.00%	-2.51%	-2.51%	0.00%

The Total Return per year is shown below for years of 5 to 29 to the end of 2024 in US$. Under the Capital Gain column is the portion of the Total Return attributable to capital gains. Under the Dividend column is the portion of the Total Return attributable to dividends. See chart below.

From	Years	Div. Gth	Tot Ret	Cap Gain	Div.
2019	5	0.00%	-25.39%	-25.39%	0.00%
2014	10	0.00%	-1.75%	-1.75%	0.00%
2009	15	0.00%	-0.86%	-0.86%	0.00%
2004	20	0.00%	-6.79%	-6.79%	0.00%
1999	25	0.00%	-10.64%	-10.64%	0.00%
1995	29	0.00%	-2.68%	-2.68%	0.00%

The 5-year low, median, and high median Price/Earnings per Share Ratios are all negative so useless. The same is true about the 10 year and historical median P/E Ratios. I cannot do any P/E Ratio testing.

I cannot calculate a Graham Price because of the years negative earnings under this stock. In the past 30 years that I have information on this stock; it is only in 1998 that they had any earnings and it was $0.01. No one seems to expect anything else but earnings losses in the near future.

I get a 10-year median Price/Book Value per Share Ratio of 2.78. The current P/B Ratio is 0.87 based on a Book Value of $654M, Book Value per Share of 2.18 and a stock price of $1.89. The current ratio is 76% below the 10 year median ratio. This stock price testing suggests that the stock price is relatively cheap. This testing is in US$, but you will get a similar result in CDN$.

I cannot do any Price/Cash Flow per Share Ratio testing because the company has a negative Cash Flow.

I cannot do any dividend yield testing because this stock pays no dividend.

The 10-year median Price/Sales (Revenue) Ratio is 8.97. The current P/S Ratio is 6.09 based on Revenue estimate for 2025 of $93M, Revenue per Share of $0.31 and a stock price of $1.89. The current ratio is 32% below the 10 year median ratio. This stock price testing suggests that the stock price is relatively cheap

Results of stock price testing is that the stock price is probably relatively cheap. This is shown by the P/S Ratio test. The only other test I could do was the P/B Ratio test and that also said that the stock was cheap.

When I look at analysts’ recommendations, I find Strong Buy (3), Buy (2), Hold (17), Underperform (1), and Sell (1). The consensus would be a Hold. The 12 month stock price consensus is $1.449 ($1.056 US$) with a high price of $2.047 ($1.492 US$) and low of $0.984 ($.717 US$). The implies a total loss of 43.84%, all from a capital loss based on a current stock price of $2.58.

Analyst on Stock Chase are not sure that hydrogen is the way to go and are not sure that investing in this very small company is any good. Amy Legate-Wolfe on Motley Fool thinks now is the time to buy as the stock has been hammered.
Adam Othman on Motley Fool says to buy this stock to build generation-spanning wealth while this stock has been beaten down so badly. The company put out a Press Release about their fourth quarter results for 2024. The company put out a Press Release about its first quarter of 2025 results.

Simply Wall Street via Yahoo Finance looks at who owns shares in this company and it is mostly the general public. Simply Wall Street has one warning out on this company of currently unprofitable and not forecast to become profitable over the next 3 years. Insider Monkey via Yahoo Finance says Ballard is among the 13 best Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Stocks to buy.

Ballard Power Systems Inc is engaged in design, development, manufacture, sale, and service of proton exchange membrane (“PEM”) fuel cell products for a variety of applications, focusing on power products for bus, truck, rail, marine, stationary and emerging market (material handling, off-road and other) applications, as well as the delivery of services, including technology solutions, after sales services and training. Key geographical revenue is derived from Poland followed by United States, United Kingdom, and other countries. Its web site is here Ballard Power Systems Inc.

The last stock I wrote about was about was Savaria Corporation (TSX-SIS, OTC-SISXF) … learn more. The next stock I will write about will be Loblaw Companies Ltd (TSX-L, OTC-LBLCF) … learn more on Friday, August 1, 2025 around 5 pm. Tomorrow on my other blog I will write about Travel Insurance…. learn more on Thursday, July 31, 2025 around 5 pm.

This blog is meant for educational purposes only and is not to provide investment advice. I am not a licensed professional investment advisor. Before making any investment decision, you should always do your own research or consult an investment professional. I do research for my own edification and I am willing to share. I write what I think and I may or may not be correct.

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