Bloom Energy Corp. shares dropped as much as 12% on Wednesday following the publication of a short‑seller report by Hunterbrook that disputed the company’s public statements regarding its scandium supply chain and production capacity. The report focused on Bloom’s reliance on scandium, a rare‑earth element essential for its fuel‑cell technology, and alleged that despite CEO statements made since February 2025 asserting the firm has "no China supply chain" and is "not dependent on China for scandium," the company actually sources the material from China.
Hunterbrook’s investigation, which employed global trade data, Chinese corporate filings, and satellite imagery, identified four China‑linked routes into Bloom’s supply chain. A sales representative from Hunan Oriental Scandium – a company that claims over 50% of the global market for fuel‑cell‑grade scandium oxide – told the short‑seller that it is "BE’s largest supplier of scandium." The report also noted that Beijing now requires an export licence for every shipment of scandium leaving the country.
According to Hunterbrook’s supply‑demand model, Bloom alone would need roughly 220 tons of scandium oxide to meet Wall Street’s expectation of 5 gigawatts of fuel‑cell production capacity. The firm estimated total projected global supply at about 240 tons, which falls short of the projected global demand of approximately 310 tons.
The short‑seller further questioned Bloom’s revenue growth. In the fourth quarter of 2025, 74% of Bloom’s revenue derived from joint‑venture operations that the company partially owns with Brookfield. Hunterbrook highlighted that Bloom’s unaudited order backlog stands at $20 billion, yet the remaining performance obligations as of 31 March were only $492.6 million.
Project‑specific concerns were also raised. Oracle’s Project Jupiter in New Mexico, a key Bloom initiative, reportedly lacks an approved air permit for fuel cells and does not have a gas pipeline in place. Additionally, American Electric Power’s $2.65 billion fuel‑cell order appears to have been pushed back from an original target deployment by the end of 2028 to a new deadline of "no later than 2030."
The report mentioned that Bloom has experienced significant turnover in its finance function, having appointed four chief financial officers since the start of 2024, including a period of nearly a year without a permanent CFO.
Bloom Energy, its chief executive officer, Oracle, Brookfield, and American Electric Power did not respond to requests for comment from Hunterbrook.