Out Fox The $treet

Westport Innovations has a history of large losses and heavy spending on research and development. The company changed directions towards the end of 2014 with a stronger focus on financial discipline. The stock is investable for the first time in years though still extremely risky. It has been almost a year now since our last full coverage on Westport Innovations (NASDAQ: WPRT ) warned investors that the stock wasn't investable until it had turned around the financials. The unquestioned leader in natural gas engines hadn't figured out how to turn a technological advantage in the growing sector into a profitable business. At the time, the stock was down to roughly $15 from a previous high of $50, but investors were in for further turmoil. Read the full article on Seeking Alpha. Disclosure: No positions mentioned. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

Summary Operational improvements aren't hitting the bottom line. Analysts appear more negative despite the stock jump. Westport remains a technology leader in natural gas engines, but shareholders may not profit. It's really shocking to see Westport Innovations ( WPRT ) surge 24% on the day following earnings to only find out that analysts have actually cut estimates for the current and next fiscal years. Sure, the stock was beaten down so some bounce back is possible based solely on first-quarter results being better than feared, but the trend isn't so encouraging. Read the full article at Seeking Alpha. Disclosure: No positions mentioned. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

In what has become a quarterly tradition, Clean Energy ( CLNE ) reported Q413 results that generally disappointed the market. With the promise of the new Cummins ( CMI ) - Westport ( WPRT ) 12-liter engine opening up the long haul, heavy-duty truck markets, investors had long expected an earnings call by early 2014 to contain some outlandish growth figures and expectations. Instead, the company delivered more promises of a developing market while providing little actual results. Along with Westport Innovations, Clean Energy offers investors potential huge returns from developing natural gas as a transportation fuel in the refuse, airport, and trucking industries, yet the end results are continued losses. At the same time, Tesla Motors ( TSLA ) has greatly revolutionized the electric car market, pushing the stock to the stratosphere. Ironically, more issues exist with a electrical vehicle that still uses a coal based power generation system and limited charging option...

In a couple of recent art icles ( I , II ) it wa s presented that Clean Energy Fuels ( CLNE ) had sharks circling for the great demise of a failing provider of natural gas for transportation fuel. While the stories provide tons of details regarding a market preference for compressed natural gas, or CNG, the articles fall far short in explaining that Clean Energy already has a focus on CNG. The big point of the articles was the flawed build out of America's Natural Gas Highway (ANGH) based on liquefied natural gas, or LNG. While possible, investors need to remember that Clean Energy is the leader in both CNG and LNG with no preference in the fuel to use other than economics. Did it leverage the business on a flawed concept or is it possible that competitors in the fueling industry lack the same level of knowledge and made mistakes? Interested parties should review the video from Clean Energy discussing the reason for choosing LNG for the highway network and review ...

With natural gas prices jumping over $4.40/btu, not all stocks will benefit from the gains. The first two articles focused on the two sectors that will benefit from higher prices: oil services and exploration stocks. On the flip side are the manufacturers and companies building transformational products to benefit from lower natural gas prices. These firms include Clean Energy Fuels ( NASDAQ: CLNE     ) , Cheniere Energy ( NYSEMKT: LNG     ) , and Westport Innovations ( NASDAQ: WPRT     ) . The problem these stocks face is that the products being built are taking until 2014, 2015, or even beyond to reach customers. Will natural gas prices remain low until then for these stocks to take advantage of these extremely low prices? The latest EIA inventory report for the period ending Dec. 12 showed a substantial decline of 285 Bcf, bringing the inventory levels to over 7% below the five-year average. Read the full article here . Disclosu...

With natural gas prices jumping over $4.40/btu, not all stocks will benefit from the gains. The first two articles focused on the two sectors that will benefit from higher prices: oil services and exploration stocks. On the flip side are the manufacturers and companies building transformational products to benefit from lower natural gas prices. These firms include Clean Energy Fuels ( NASDAQ: CLNE     ), Cheniere Energy ( NYSEMKT: LNG     ), and Westport Innovations ( NASDAQ: WPRT     ). The problem these stocks face is that the products being built are taking until 2014, 2015, or even beyond to reach customers. Will natural gas prices remain low until then for these stocks to take advantage of these extremely low prices? The latest EIA inventory report for the period ending Dec. 12 showed a substantial decline of 285 Bcf, bringing the inventory levels to over 7% below the five-year average. Read the full article here . Disclosure:...

After another news release, Clean Energy Fuels ( CLNE ) again appears setup for a big run yet the stock continues to languish around $12. The largest provider of natural gas fuel for transportation in North America offers catalysts that could push the stock on a huge run in 2014. Most investors are still concerned that the 'hype' won't ever be met with reality. Clean Energy falls into a group of stocks set to benefit from the abundant supplies of natural gas that have led to a glut of the cheap fuel. Other stocks including Cheniere Energy ( LNG ) and Westport Innovations ( WPRT ) are building products that benefit from this cheap energy source. Oddly these stocks continue to diverge though all are still in the process of proving out their respective business plans. In fact, none of the three stocks is even expected to be profitable next year making the divergence perplexing. Considering the huge gains in Cheniere, Clean Energy could be set up for a strong...

Back at the end of March, Stone Fox Capital suggested that Cheniere Energy ( LNG ) was overheating and investors should be careful buying the stock. The stock quickly surged above $27.50 with numerous technical indicators flashing an over bought condition. The stock spent the next five months fractionally above or below that level. The company is part of a group of high profile stocks attempting to benefit from low natural gas prices. The group includes the likes of Clean Energy ( CLNE ) and Westport Innovations ( WPRT ) that have had drastically different stock results over the last couple of years with Cheniere dramatically outperforming the group. Ironically neither stock has actually benefited from the advantageous situation yet due to the lengthy period it has taken to complete infrastructure projects. Read the full article at Seeking Alpha. Disclosure: No position mentioned. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

For investors that only read the earnings headlines, a ton of additional information can usually be gleaned from the related conference calls. For those interested in the development of the natural gas transportation fuel market, Clean Energy Fuels ( NASDAQ: CLNE     ) happens to be one of the better providers of useful numbers. The leader in providing both CNG and LNG transportation fueling solutions in North America typically loads up the earnings call with numerous useful numbers. The numbers range from the development of the Cummins ( NYSE: CMI     ) – Westport ( NASDAQ: WPRT     ) engines to margins per gallon to trucking fleets transitioning to natural gas for fuel. Read the full article here . Disclosure: No positions mentioned. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

After another quarterly report, Westport Innovations ( WPRT ) had mixed results with good news for longs and bad news for shorts. Any investor checking back into the story after an absence should realize that since the last earnings release, the much-anticipated Cummins ( CMI ) - Westport , or CWI, joint venture's 400HP 12-liter engine hit production and the company completed a secondary offering to raise cash. The combination of news items sets the company up for positive results in the future. Unfortunately, the leader of natural gas engines didn't provide details on the earnings report that helped the stock, though it shouldn't be hurt that bad either. The lack of details regarding CWI growth and the continued focus on new development projects again left the investment community with concerns about profitability. Read the full article at Seeking Alpha. Disclosure: No position mentioned. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

On Tuesday, Piper Jaffray made the Clean Energy Fuels ( CLNE ) stock its top sell through 2014 based on several reasons that don't add up. The firm also lowered the target price to $4.50 from $9.50. Considering the stock was trading around $13, the research report naturally caused the stock to absolutely plunge the following day. The company is a leading provider of natural gas fuel for transportation in North America. It builds and operates compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG) fueling stations. Note that the company's description absolutely lists CNG as a fuel it sells. This fact will come into play as we deconstruct the analyst call. Read the full article at Seeking Alpha. Disclosure: No positions mentioned. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

Very few scenarios occur where a stock drops due to an event that's a major positive for new investors. A secondary stock offering can be harmful to existing shareholders, but new investors get the advantage of a stronger balance sheet or a major insider reducing a position possibly overhanging the stock. In the case of Westport Innovations ( WPRT ), the company is busy developing technology to take advantage of the switch to engines that can use the suddenly abundant and cheap natural gas supplies. In fact, a joint venture with Cummins ( CMI ) recently released the much hyped 12L engine needed for regional-haul trucks that don't daily return to the base of operations. As recently detailed in Westport: Joint Ventures Hide Major Catalysts , the release of this engine is one of several major catalysts that should propel the stock higher with one major catch at that point. That catch just happened to be the cash burn questions that he company solves in this offe...

Lost in the shuffle over the last couple of months have been the recent industry developments that could finally make Clean Energy Fuels ( NASDAQ: CLNE     ) a major winner. Due to cheap and abundant supplies of domestic natural gas, Clean Energy embarked on a dramatic plan to build America's Natural Gas Highway. The plan was to develop a network of liquefied natural gas (LNG) fueling stations in order to encourage trucking companies to purchase LNG regional haul trucks. Read the full article here . Disclosure: Long CLNE. Please review the disclaimer page for more details.

Throughout 2011 and into 2012, the high cost of oil-based fuels and the low cost of natural gas stoked excitement over several stocks designing vehicles that run on alternative energy. Among this crowd, two companies have really stood out -- and ironically, they've taken opposite directions during the last year, providing a potential catch up period for the laggard. With a focus on natural-gas engines for trucks, Westport Innovations ( NASDAQ: WPRT     ) soared into the start of 2012. But the stock has spent the last 18 months losing 40% of its value. Conversely, Tesla Motors ( NASDAQ: TSLA     ) focused on building premium electric cars and had a more muted stock performance before its well-discussed 400% gain over the past 12 months. Now, the question is whether Westport can reignite its previous excitement, and catch up to Tesla's gains. Read the full article here . Disclosure: No positions mentioned. Please review the disclaimer page for...

Small Cap Insight In the past, Clean Energy Fuels ( CLNE ) was a stock to be bearish on as the company developed America s Natural Gas Highway while the trucks needed to fill up at those fueling stations weren't in production yet. Conversely, the company wasn't able to open numerous LNG fueling stations and the quarterly numbers for the firm were not overly impressive. The concept was something that investors could get behind, but investing is about finding ones that make financial sense and this was one didn't at the start. The company is the leading provider of natural gas fuel for transportation in North America. It builds and operates compressed natural gas (CNG) and LNG fueling stations Read the full article on Seeking Alpha. Disclosure: No positions mentioned. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

Small Cap Insight After disappointing revenue guidance for the remaining of 2013, Westport Innovations ( WPRT ) slumped 11% to start August. This placed the stock back at a level originally reached in late 2011 on the back of the hype of natural gas as a transportation fuel for the trucking industry. With low domestic natural gas prices and plenty of supplies, the maker of engines that use natural gas stands at the intersection of huge potential and dwindling stock support. The confusing part about the Westport situation is that the vast majority of the promising future of the company is tied up in two major joint ventures (JVs). These businesses are booming with promising developments, yet the ownership percentage prevents the loading of the revenue into the financials. The rareness of this situation appeared to even have the analysts confused on the earnings call . The typical question focused on the honestly unimportant revenue of the 100% owned business units. Re...

After the close on Wednesday, Clean Energy Fuels Corp. ( CLNE ) reported a surprising profit for Q113 that sent the stock soaring in after hours trading. By the time the market opened on Thursday, the stock opened down and eventually lost 4.3% for the day. As investors quickly found out from reading the details, the profits only occurred due to the collection of $20.8 million of VTEC revenues for all of 2012 that the company didn't exclude from the non-GAAP numbers. Per the company, it is the largest provider of natural gas fuel for transportation in North America and a global leader in the expanding natural gas vehicle fueling market. Unfortunately though, that market isn't building out nearly fast enough to make this company profitable. The margins remain razor thin as Clean Energy is forced to pass along all the costs savings of using natural gas to the customers. The profits and positive EBITDA though alluded to by the company all through the report didn...

While most investors want to play Clean Energy (NASDAQ: CLNE ) or Westport Innovations (NASDAQ: WPRT ) to gain exposure to the natural gas as a transportation fuel concept, the sensible way is Chart Industries (NASDAQ: GTLS ) . The former stocks remain highly unprofitable and very speculative while Chart continues to spin-out huge profits supplying the build out of the use of natural gas as a fuel. The company is a leading global more » Disclosure: No positions mentioned. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

The promise of a national natural gas highway continues to be a larger than expected money-losing ordeal for Clean Energy Fuels Corp. ( CLNE ) . As predicted prior to the earnings report, the losses will continue to flow and investors should be concerned (see Coming Soon: More Losses At Clean Energy Fuels ). The company reported Q412 earnings that slightly missed analyst expectations and provided general commentary that doesn't change the profit picture much for the next few years. Per the company, it is the largest provider of natural gas fuel for transportation in North America and a global leader in the expanding natural gas vehicle fueling market. The good news is that the Cummins ( CMI ) - Westport Innovations ( WPRT ) engine needed for highway use by the long haul trucking industry appears on track for Q4 production. The bad news is that Clean Energy built 70 stations in 2012 on expectations of production by this summer. Read the full article at Seeking Alp...

The promise of a national natural gas highway continues to be a money-losing ordeal for Clean Energy Fuels Corp. ( CLNE ). The company reports Q4 2012 earnings on February 28th and analysts have become increasingly bearish over the last few weeks. A big concern with the stock remains that the company has been unable to establish a large market while the natural gas fuel is extremely cheap. Per the company, it is the largest provider of natural gas fuel for transportation in North America and a global leader in the expanding natural gas vehicle fueling market. A key component to the Q4 earnings report will be an update on the natural gas highway and the natural gas engines being built to support the use of the highway by long-haul trucking industry. Read the full article at Seeking Alpha. Disclosure: No positions mentioned. Please review the disclaimer page for more details.