Barclays: Bloom Energy (BE.US) demand turning point is steeper than expected, rating raised to "Buy"

According to Golden Ten Data, Barclays has upgraded Bloom Energy (BE.US) from "Hold" to "Overweight" with a price target of $289, stating that the speed of the demand inflection point appears steeper than previously expected: customer deposits have risen from $78 million at the end of 2025 to $661 million in the third quarter of 2026, with an increase of about $300 million quarter-on-quarter in the third quarter alone.

Earlier, Bloom Energy announced a potential large-scale power collaboration with California Resources Corp., with both parties set to evaluate the development of at least 1 gigawatt (GW) of fuel cell power capacity in California, along with supporting carbon capture and storage (CCS) facilities.

Barclays analyst Christine Cho pointed out that importantly, this balance change underestimates the actual total deposits received—because deposits related to shipments have already been rolled into revenue for the current quarter. Cho stated that assuming customers typically pay about 10% of contract value as upfront deposit, a net increase of about $300 million in deposits could signify at least about $3 billion in underlying contract value for Bloom Energy.

"Overall, the increase in customer deposits, accelerated capacity expansion, and significant new supplier commitments indicate to us that management's confidence in the forward demand pipeline has substantially strengthened, exceeding our previous assumptions," Cho wrote.