Ballard Power Systems Inc. (USA) (Nasdaq:BLDP) Still Going South

[[tagnumber 0]][[tagnumber 1]]Yesterday, Ballard Power Systems Inc. (Nasdaq:BLDP) announced an earnings conference call scheduled for July 29, 2015 – the same date on which the stock hit a 52–week high in 2014. Can we expect a huge rebound this time, though?[[tagnumber 2]] [[tagnumber 0]]Over the last 12 months, the shares of the fuel systems developer have more or less been on a steep slope. Currently traded around the $1.60 mark, BLDP is exactly 65 per cent away from its 52–week high of $4.49. The recently completed public offering of 8.125 million shares at $1.60 per share seems to have played an important role in keeping the downtrend alive.[[tagnumber 2]] [[tagnumber 0]]A quick analysis of some of the major fundamental and technical aspects about the stock reveal a fairly controversial outlook for the chart performance of the stock in the forthcoming months. The upcoming earnings announcement could give the stock a boost provided that it beats analysts‘ expectations. The thing is, BLDP failed to even meet them the last three times, and for the quarter ended Mar. 31, 2015 in particular, when the company incurred a $0.06 loss per share compared to a consensus EPS forecast profit of $0.14. On the positive side, management expects higher revenue this time around and we have yet to see how this will affect the EPS for Q2 of 2015.[[tagnumber 2]] [[tagnumber 0]][[tagnumber 8]]What unifies most analysts, however, is a forecast for improving earnings for BLDP over the next few years. The bad news here is that they do not expect the company to actually become profitable until 2017. Till then, BLDP is expected to gradually reduce its losses to a minimum. And while the company‘s stock might go up on the charts as a result of decreasing losses, investors should expect no dividends any time soon.[[tagnumber 2]] [[tagnumber 0]]At present, BLDP is in the red, which puts the company far below the average industry earnings. What is more, insiders seem to have no interest in the stock as no insider transactions have occurred for the last twelve months. Based on these two facts alone, it is hardly a wonder that a growing number of investors tend to believe the stock will continue to lose ground. As of Jun. 30, 2015, there almost 8.5 million short sold shares of BLDP stock. At an average volume of 1.1 million, it would take shorters eight days to close out their positions. If you intend to short the stock, you might as well keep that in mind.[[tagnumber 2]]