Barclays: Bloom Energy (BE.US) demand inflection point is steeper than expected, rating upgraded to "Buy"

Barclays upgraded Bloom Energy (BE.US) from "Equal Weight" to "Overweight" with a price target of US$289, citing that the demand inflection point appears steeper than previously expected: customer deposits rose from US$78 million at the end of 2025 to US$661 million in Q3 2026, with an increase of approximately US$300 million in the third quarter alone on a sequential basis. Previously, Bloom Energy announced a potential large-scale power collaboration with California Resources Corp., under which the two parties will evaluate developing at least 1 gigawatt (GW) of fuel cell power generation capacity in California, paired with carbon capture and storage (CCS) facilities. Barclays analyst Christine Cho noted that, importantly, this balance change understates the total deposits actually receivedbecause deposits related to shipments were recognized into revenue during the quarter. Cho said that assuming customers typically pay upfront deposits of about 10% of contract value, a net deposit increase of only about US$300 million could imply at least approximately US$3 billion in underlying contract value for Bloom Energy. "Taken together, the increase in customer deposits, accelerating capacity expansion, and significant new supplier commitments indicate to us that management's confidence in the forward demand pipeline has strengthened significantly, beyond our prior assumptions," Cho wrote.