Fuel cell manufacturer Ballard Power Systems reported a revenue of $17.8 million in the second quarter (Q2) of 2025, an 11% year-over-year (YoY) increase, supported by growth in the heavy-duty mobility segment. The revenue, however, fell short of analysts’ expectations by $230,000.

The company’s heavy-duty mobility revenue was $16.1 million, 22% higher YoY, driven by rail deliveries to North American and European customers. However, this was slightly offset by weaker sales in the bus, truck, and marine verticals.

Revenue from the stationary segment declined 67% YoY to just $0.5 million, while the emerging and other markets category jumped 2% YoY to $1.2 million.

Ballard reported adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) loss of $30.6 million, narrowing from a loss of $35.4 million in Q2 2024. The improvement in adjusted EBITDA was driven primarily by higher gross margins and operating cost improvements.

Net loss stood at $24.2 million, decreasing from $31.5 million in the same quarter last year.

The company reported a loss per share of $0.08, beating analysts’ expectations by  $0.01.

The 12-month orderbook was $84.3 million at the end of Q2, a decrease of $8 million or 9% from the end of Q1 2025. Order backlog at the end of Q2 2025 was $146.2 million, a decrease of 7% compared to the end of Q1 2025. This decline resulted from soft order intakes of $8.3 million and the removal of certain high-risk orders.

Ballard has maintained its 2025 guidance ranges for total operating expenses at $100 million to $120 million and capital expenditures at $15 to $25 million, with expectations for back-half-weighted revenue performance as the hydrogen and fuel cell markets gradually recover.

In July 2025, Ballard initiated a strategic realignment to cut annualized operating costs by approximately 30% from the levels recorded in the first half of 2025. The plan includes workforce reductions, product portfolio simplification, continued product cost reduction initiatives, and stricter value-based pricing strategies, with the goal of achieving positive cash flow by year-end 2027.

Marty T. Neese, President and CEO at Ballard Power Systems, emphasized that the company is prioritizing markets where the company sees clear product market fit and margin improvement potential that offer strong near-term commercial traction.

“We are seeing really good traction and a value proposition of significance in the bus market, both in North America and in Europe,” noting that hydrogen wins on total cost of ownership for larger fleet operators when compared to battery-electric alternatives. He highlighted that in these larger deployments, the infrastructure and cost challenges of battery charging systems make hydrogen a more favored solution as fleets scale.

Alongside buses, Neese pointed to rail as another stable growth area with deliveries remaining on pace and to the marine segment, where the company recently secured one of the largest marine orders in Ballard’s history with eCap and Samskip, a 6.3 MW FCwave project that took roughly two years to close. While acknowledging the marine sales cycle is long, he believes the segment offers strong potential because it has the right kind of range requirements, route requirements, and fueling infrastructure for hydrogen adoption. In addition, Neese mentioned “green shoots” emerging in the material handling market, particularly in stack replacements, where original equipment manufacturers and integrators seek longer-lasting, higher-performance stacks to lower lifetime service costs, an area where Ballard plays extraordinarily well given its proven stack lifetimes.

On the operational and product strategy side, Neese stressed that ongoing investment in Ballard’s core stack technology remains critical, as improvements in durability, lifetime, and efficiency translate across all the verticals the company serves. He sees this cross-platform technology development as a way to remain future-ready for slower-moving markets like heavy-duty trucks. According to Neese, this approach gives the company plenty of time to adapt when market signals shift.

Turning to China, Neese said, “We are on a material pause in China. We have not invested in any way, shape, or form over the last quarter.” Looking ahead, Ballard plans to determine where it does not fit in the company’s portfolio. He noted that the company continues to purchase components from China, calling it a critical supply chain node for Ballard, but said the demand environment remains uncertain.

Ballard reported a revenue of $15.4 million in Q1 2025, a 6% YoY increase, supported by growth in the bus segment of the heavy-duty mobility market. The revenue, however, fell short of analysts’ expectations by $1.33 million.