Nel ASA: A 224% Order Surge Can't Mask the CEO Vacancy and a Deepening Net Loss
Published on 07/29/2026 at 19:42 | Redaktion boerse-global.de
Investors in Nel ASA are wrestling with a stark dichotomy. The Norwegian electrolyser maker is booking orders at a blistering pace, yet its stock is hovering just above the year's low, weighed down by a leadership vacuum and a quarterly loss that missed analyst expectations.
Shares traded at €0.1946 on Wednesday, barely off the floor, after briefly touching €0.198 on Tradegate earlier in the session before fading to a 0.10% decline. The stock has now shed roughly 47% from its May high of €0.3655, and the 14-day relative strength index sits at 36.1—edging toward the oversold threshold of 30 but not yet there. On a weekly basis, the decline stands at 4.47%.
The technical picture reflects a market that is testing lower levels without conviction. Buyers are probing for a floor, but no sustained recovery has materialised.
A Net Loss Widened by a Legal Settlement
The second-quarter numbers, released on 15 July, laid bare the operational strain. Revenue from customer contracts slipped 11.79% to 153.41 million Norwegian kroner, while total revenue fell to 182 million kroner from 215 million a year earlier. The headline net loss came in at 189 million kroner, or 0.10 kroner per share—worse than the 0.07-kroner loss analysts had pencilled in.
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A significant drag was an out-of-court settlement with Iwatani Corporation of America, which added 70 million kroner in costs. That pushed the EBITDA loss to 155 million kroner. In the year-ago quarter, the per-share loss had been 0.07 kroner.
Orders Tell a Different Story
Amid the red ink, the order book offers a counter-narrative. New orders in the second quarter totalled 230 million kroner, a 224% jump from the prior year. Nearly all of that demand—roughly 96%—came from the proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyser business. The total backlog stood at 1.213 billion kroner at the end of June, down about 3% year-on-year but up 9% from the first quarter of 2026, signalling a sequential turnaround.
In May, Nel launched its new pressurised alkaline platform, the PA-Series, which management says could cut costs by as much as 60%. Whether that technological leap translates into large industrial orders is a question for the second half of the year.
The Empty Chair
The most pressing uncertainty, however, is not about technology or orders. It is about who will lead the company.
CEO Håkon Volldal announced his departure on 15 June, moving to packaging group Elopak. He remains at the helm during a six-month notice period, but the board—chaired by Arvid Moss—has yet to name a successor. As of late July, no appointment had been made.
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That leadership gap is casting a long shadow. Major strategic decisions are difficult to push through with a departing chief executive, and the lack of clarity is keeping many investors on the sidelines.
Nel’s balance sheet offers some reassurance: the company holds roughly 1.3 billion kroner in liquid assets and a current ratio of 4.41, providing ample runway to fund the transition to the new platform. But with the next earnings release set for 21 October, the stock’s near-term direction will likely hinge on two questions: whether the board can fill the CEO seat before then, and whether the broader hydrogen industry can break out of its cost trap.
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Nel ASA Stock: New Analysis - 29 July
Fresh Nel ASA information released. What's the impact for investors? Our latest independent report examines recent figures and market trends.
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