BE can still burn short sellers even after its absurd year-over-year climb
Bloom Energy Corp (NYSE:BE) is seemingly unstoppable. The stock is up 23.5% today to trade at $279.64, after the fuel cell specialist reported adjusted first-quarter earnings of 44 cents per share on $751 million in revenue, both of which topped analyst estimates. The company also hiked its 2026 guidance and announced a data center partnership with Oracle (ORCL).
BE hit a record high of $290.50 out of the gate this morning and eight brokerages hiked their price targets in response, the highest coming from RBC to $335 from $143. The shares are up 217% in 2026, today breaking out above recent resistance at $240. BE has catapulted higher over the past 12 months, more than 1,300%. In fact, the shares have rattled off four double-digit moves since March.
Short interest is tapering off, down 5% in the most recent reporting period. But with 8.7% of the stock's total available float sold short, there's still short squeeze potential. Prior to today's analyst shift, 14 of the 25 brokerages covering BE maintained "hold" or worse ratings, while the consensus 12-month price target of $216.77 was a 22.1% discount from its current perch.
Options traders are loading up on puts today, despite the pop. At last look, 92,000 puts have changed hands, volume that's triple the average intraday amount and legging out the 69,000 calls exchanged. While the weekly 5/1 300-strike call is the most popular contract today, the weekly 5/1 240- and 250-strikes are also seeing new positions bought to open.