Nel ASA: Cost Discipline Takes Center Stage as Revenue Slips and a CEO Search Begins
Published on 07/30/2026 at 19:50 | Redaktion boerse-global.de
The Norwegian hydrogen specialist Nel ASA is navigating a painful transition, trading growth-at-any-cost for a survival-focused strategy built on cost control and cash preservation. The company’s second-quarter 2026 results, released this week, paint a picture of a business still under pressure but with some underlying stability that offers cautious investors a thread of hope.
Revenue from customer contracts fell to 153.41 million Norwegian kroner in the second quarter, an 11.79% decline year-over-year, with a loss per share of 0.10 kroner. The headline numbers confirm a pattern that has dogged the stock for months: shrinking volumes at a company that has yet to turn a profit. Yet the market response was surprisingly upbeat, with the share price rising 3.32% on Thursday to 0.1994 euros, up from the previous close of 0.1930 euros.
A Radical Slimming Down
The current quarter’s weakness is part of a broader restructuring. Nel dramatically streamlined its operations after spinning off its hydrogen refueling station business, Cavendish Hydrogen, leaving the group focused solely on electrolyser manufacturing. The move was forced by a brutal 2025, when revenue from customer contracts collapsed 31% to 963.1 million kroner. Heavy impairment charges on technology and production assets pushed the net loss to approximately 1.27 billion kroner for the full year.
The new strategy is straightforward: stretch cash as far as possible. At the end of 2025, Nel held 1.62 billion kroner in liquidity. By the end of June 2026, that figure had been managed down to 1.328 billion kroner — a decline, but one that still provides a meaningful cushion. The company is deliberately "shrinking to health," a trend observers say is sweeping the hydrogen sector as peers like Plug Power also adjust cost bases to match real demand rather than chasing unprofitable growth.
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Orders Hold While Projects Stall
One bright spot in an otherwise subdued quarter: the order backlog remained stable at 1.213 billion kroner. That stability suggests customers are not abandoning the technology — they are simply delaying major project decisions. If Nel can convert that backlog into revenue, the current revenue drought could prove temporary.
To help unlock those delayed investments, Nel has commercialized a new pressurized alkaline electrolyser system designed to lower capital costs and reduce project complexity for clients. The company is betting that this technological step will encourage hesitant buyers to move forward in the coming quarters.
Chart Tells a Cautious Tale
The stock’s technical position reflects the broader uncertainty. At 0.1994 euros, the share price sits nearly 7% below its 200-day moving average of 0.2143 euros, a gap that underscores medium-term weakness. Over the past 30 days, the stock has lost 8.83%, and the relative strength index of 36.5 hovers near oversold territory. Compared with the 52-week high of 0.3655 euros reached on May 25, the stock has shed roughly 45% of its value. The February low sits much closer to current levels, placing the shares in a fragile sideways range.
Leadership Vacancy Adds Uncertainty
Compounding the operational challenges, CEO HĂĄkon Volldal has announced his resignation, and a successor has yet to be named. The leadership gap introduces an additional layer of risk as the company attempts to execute its cost-cutting plan and convert its order book into revenue. How quickly Nel fills that corner office will be one of the key factors determining whether the new strategy gains traction.
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What’s Next
Investors will have to wait until October 21 for the third-quarter 2026 numbers. Analysts currently expect a full-year loss of 0.315 kroner per share, a figure that puts the first-half loss in context and suggests the company will struggle to meaningfully narrow its deficit through the rest of the year. Nel did not pay a dividend for the 2025 financial year.
The central question remains whether the stable order backlog can be turned into real revenue before cash burn becomes an existential issue. With a market capitalization of roughly 353 million euros and a CEO search underway, Nel is a stock that demands patience — and a close eye on the October report.
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