The pioneers of the global hydrogen industry are collectively entering a difficult period.
Looking back on the development of the hydrogen energy industry, Europe and the United States were once the absolute leaders, giving birth to a number of benchmark enterprises such as Nel and Cummins, which have long attracted the attention of the global market.
Recently, Nel, Prager Energy, Cummins and Enapter, four established European and American electrolyzer manufacturers, have disclosed their 2025 financial results one after another. These key financial data not only reveal the enterprise's own business winter, but also become an important window to observe the global hydrogen energy market shock and pattern reconstruction.
As a representative company in the Norwegian electrolyzer sector, Nel's 2025 earnings report can be called a" cliff decline ". The data shows that the company's annual operating loss has expanded from 0.389 billion Norwegian kroner (about 0.293 billion yuan) in 2024 to 1.365 billion Norwegian kroner (about 1.029 billion yuan), and the scale of the loss has nearly doubled; operating income has fallen by 31% simultaneously to 0.963 billion Norwegian kroner (about 0.726 billion yuan), and revenue and profit are under pressure.
Nel said that the delay in the implementation of government incentives, the continued high interest rate environment and high construction costs, together led to lower-than-expected order revenue, which became the core cause of the deterioration in performance. In response, Nel has suspended the production of alkaline electrolyzer reactors at its flagship Norwegian plant and is trying its best to reduce operating costs by laying off 15 per cent (down to 346 employees).
On March 8, the data for fiscal year 2025 disclosed by US electrolyzer leader Prager Energy was also not optimistic. Although the company's annual operating income increased by 12.88 per cent year-on-year to $0.71 billion, the net loss of $1.632 billion was still high, with basic earnings per share of $1.42, which continued to be in a loss state.
And from the balance sheet, from the balance sheet, Prager Energy has a total debt of $1.591 billion, of which $0.161 billion is short-term debt, a gearing ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 2.31, and subsequent liquidity pressures cannot be ignored.
Unlike the other three companies, Cummins Group as a whole remains sound. Full-year 2025 consolidated revenue of $33.67 billion was 1% lower than the $34.1 billion in fiscal 2024. Total profit was $8.51 billion, 1% higher than the $8.43 billion in fiscal 2024, and profitability in the core business remained strong.
but it is worth noting that its Accelera department, which focuses on zero-carbon business, has suffered a cumulative impairment and restructuring loss of $0.458 billion throughout the year. More importantly, in February this year, Cummins officially announced that it would stop receiving new electrolytic cell orders. Cummins explained that the end-customer demand continued to be sluggish, orders fell short of expectations, superimposed on the U.S. hydrogen subsidy policy erratic, lack of continuity, seriously weakened the industry's investment confidence, but also let the enterprise electrolytic cell business planning lost support, helpless to choose to shrink.
the 2025 financial report Enapter by the German AEM electrolyzer manufacturer showed a" contradictory "trend: the annual operating income reached 22.1 million euros (about 0.172 billion yuan RMB), exceeding its expected ceiling of 20 million -22 million euros and achieving its revenue target. However, EBITDA losses far exceeded expectations, reaching -18.1 million euros (about -0.141 billion yuan RMB), this is nearly twice the previous forecast range (-9 million to -10 million euros).
Enapter said that the expansion of losses was mainly due to two major factors: one is the impairment of accounts receivable of about 3 million euros (about 23.4 million yuan), and the other is about 4.5 million euros (about 35.1 million yuan). Product-related costs, these costs are related to the electrolyzer stack that has been delivered to customers but returned.
Once upon a time, Europe was the absolute main battlefield of the global hydrogen production equipment market, and European and American companies had the right to speak in the industry by virtue of their first-mover technology advantages. However, the financial results of the four leaders in 2025 clearly show that these forerunners are facing severe profitability challenges and survival tests under multiple pressures such as policy landing less than expected, slow release of market demand, high costs and high interest rates.
Although hydrogen energy is the common focus of global energy transformation, under the grand goal, the actual commercialization process has exposed many practical problems. From policy dependence to market demand, from technical routes to cost control, everything is a tough bone. How to build a truly sustainable profit model and find a balance between technological innovation and market reality has become a core proposition that all participants, whether they are established strong players in Europe and the United States or emerging market forces, must answer together.
The "cold winter" of the industry may also be a necessary stage to squeeze out bubbles and mature. In the continuous exploration and pain, the global hydrogen energy industry power map, is undoubtedly entering a new round of redrawing cycle.