As artificial intelligence strains the U.S. power grid, Bloom Energy (BE) has emerged as a core winner by supplying rapidly deployable fuel cells to data centers for Oracle and other tech giants. The stock has skyrocketed 153% year-to-date, but a 37% drop from its 52-week high of $351.28 now forces investors to confront the question: after a nearly 500% rally over the past year, does Bloom Energy have enough momentum to keep soaring?
The hunger for baseload power from AI data centers is unprecedented. Gartner projects data center electricity consumption will grow 26% to 565 terawatt-hours in 2026, while Bank of America warns that the U.S. grid could face a 100-gigawatt capacity deficit by 2030. Traditional utilities need years to bring new capacity online — a gap Bloom Energy exploits. Its solid oxide fuel cells generate electricity through an electrochemical process without combustion, can run on natural gas, biogas or hydrogen, and, crucially, can be deployed in under two months. The company delivered a system for Oracle Cloud Infrastructure in just 55 days, easily beating its 90-day promise. This “time-to-power” advantage has made it a go-to choice for hyperscalers desperate to bypass grid bottlenecks.
Surging demand is translating into concrete results. In its latest quarter, revenue reached $1.07 billion and adjusted earnings per share hit $0.78, both well above consensus estimates. Management raised the full-year revenue outlook to a range of $3.9 billion to $4.2 billion. On the financing front, the strategic partnership with Brookfield Asset Management was scaled up from $5 billion to $25 billion, and Oaktree along with IDF announced a $1.7 billion investment to deploy Bloom’s technology for Nebius’s AI cloud platform.
The structure of the backlog reveals an even more powerful flywheel. At the beginning of 2026, the total backlog stood at $20 billion. Product backlog alone was $6 billion, up 140% year-over-year, while service backlog reached $14 billion. Every fuel cell sold comes with a long-term service contract, creating an annuity-like stream of recurring revenue. The services segment has been profitable since 2024, and each new installation replenishes and expands that backlog. Bloom also disclosed that new customers are not yet reflected in the backlog figure, and that backlog growth continues to outpace revenue growth. Driven by AI demand, the company swung to a profit in the first two quarters of this year after prior losses.
Yet the risks tied to stretched expectations are impossible to ignore. Bloom Energy carries a beta of 3.8, making it nearly four times as volatile as the S&P 500. A nearly 500% surge in twelve months likely prices in a great deal of bullish optimism — a key reason for the steep retreat from the high. Even with a loaded backlog and emerging profitability, the current valuation requires investors to hold an exceptionally strong conviction in the AI growth narrative to stomach potential price swings.
For now, Bloom Energy is clearly positioned at the center of the AI power revolution, and the combination of product sales and a growing service annuity is steadily improving fundamentals. But whether the stock can continue to run hot hinges on whether industry demand consistently beats already elevated expectations. This remains a name best suited for investors with high risk tolerance and a firm belief in sustained AI infrastructure spending.
