Why Clean Energy Fuels' Shares Dropped

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of natural gas fueling company Clean Energy Fuels (NAS: CLNE) fell 10% today, a day after the company announced earnings.

So what: Gallons delivered rose 23% from a year ago to 43.7 million gallons and adjusted loss per share of $0.16 was a penny better than expected. But revenue of $73.6 million fell short of expectations and the worry is that uptake of the company's product isn't going as quickly as expected.

Now what: The big question for Clean Energy Fuels has been how fast a move to natural gas fuel can take place. For now, it isn't going as quickly as expected and investors are fretting about the growth rate. On the positive side, the company did swing to positive adjusted EBITDA, and even if it's not as fast as expected, revenue is still growing. I'm cautious about the discount today and think shares may have further to fall. Until the company has some real momentum on the bottom line, I'll stick to the sidelines.

Interested in more info on Clean Energy Fuels? Add it to your watchlist byclicking here.

At the time thisarticle was published Fool contributor Travis Hoium does not have a position in any company mentioned. You can follow Travis on Twitter at @FlushDrawFool, check out his personal stock holdings or follow his CAPS picks at TMFFlushDraw.Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of Clean Energy Fuels. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days.

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