Why Hydrogen Fuel Cell Stocks Are Soaring Today

As of 11:15 a.m. EST Tuesday, shares of fuel cell star Plug Power (NASDAQ: PLUG) are up 2.6%, while its hydrogen-powered peer FuelCell Energy (NASDAQ: FCEL) is doing a bit worse (up only 2%), and Bloom Energy (NYSE: BE) is doing quite a bit better, up 13.8%. If you recall, it was exactly one week ago that Plug Power announced plans to sell just under 44 million new shares of stock at $22.25 apiece, raising a total of $1 billion in new cash to fuel its growth plans. Today, Plug is playing up this development and trying to milk it for just a wee bit more momentum, announcing that it has "completed" the aforementioned stock sale and boasting that the deal has become "one of the largest bought equity deal transactions in the broader clean-tech sector" -- putting the company in control of a grand total $1.7 billion cash hoard at last count.