Hunterbrook Report Links Scandium Supply Route to China, Discloses Short Position in Bloom Energy
Key Facts
Hunterbrook Media published a report on October 30 titled "Bloom: Chinese Scandium Supply Route Resumes," saying a Thai shipping route is linked to a Chinese supplier and that Hunterbrook Capital, its investment arm, had taken a short position in Bloom Energy shares. The report puts the scandium oxide supply chain at the center of the debate over the company, while its conclusion about reliance on China differs from Bloom’s official account. The company said its current supply chain can support production capacity of up to 25 gigawatts a year and that it does not rely on China for scandium oxide. Investors are therefore faced with conflicting accounts of the source of a material used in the company’s fuel cells. The information provided did not include shipment volumes or dates.
Hunterbrook’s report focuses on the resumption of shipments through a Thai route that it links to a Chinese supplier, presenting this as the basis for its conclusion about reliance on China. But linking the shipping route to the source of supply is Hunterbrook’s analysis, not a position endorsed by Bloom. The company says its current supplies do not rely on China and that the production capacity supported by its supply chain reaches 25 gigawatts a year. The dispute brings renewed attention to an earlier Hunterbrook report on scandium oxide, which Bloom addressed in an official filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. In a filing dated July 9, Bloom said it had sufficient supplies to meet current demand for fuel cells and its backlog, and that expanding supply did not depend on China. The filing places the company’s current position in the context of a public response to earlier claims about the same material.
Bloom said scandium oxide is an additive to the zirconia oxide electrolyte used in solid oxide fuel cells. It said the additive improves energy density, durability and fuel efficiency, making the material’s availability part of the question of meeting demand and expanding production. The company’s assurance on supplies comes as it describes annual production capacity supported by its supply chain as reaching up to 25 gigawatts. In its second-quarter filing, Bloom said posts of this kind, whether accurate or not, had caused significant volatility in its share price. It added that it could not predict whether similar posts would appear or what their potential impact might be. The company’s own disclosures thus give the supply-source debate direct relevance to how investors assess share-price volatility.
Meanwhile, Bloom raised its full-year 2026 revenue forecast to a range of $4.4 billion to $4.6 billion, its third forecast increase this year. The company said its year-to-date performance and customer demand gave it confidence to raise the outlook. It is also expanding annual production capacity at its Fremont facility from 1 to 2 gigawatts, targeting completion by the end of 2026. These plans link scandium supply to Bloom’s ability to deliver its targeted production increase, while the company maintains that its current supply chain can support annual production of up to 25 gigawatts. Those figures remain part of the company’s public position, alongside Hunterbrook’s questions about the material’s shipping route and source.
The dispute followed a mixed reaction to Bloom’s third-quarter results, announced on October 22. The stock fell 4.5% in extended trading to $208, even though earnings per share were $0.94, compared with analysts’ estimate of $0.69, and revenue was $1.24 billion, versus expectations of $1.06 billion. On October 29, the shares closed at $222.3, according to EL7 data included in the initial draft; the information provided does not include verified figures for the session high or low. Bloom’s filing confirms that similar posts had previously caused significant volatility in its share price, without specifying an expected effect from this new report. Hunterbrook Capital’s disclosed short position, meanwhile, was described in the report’s disclosure as subject to change after publication.