Hydrogen shares are often the talk of the ASX, but these five are making headlines for the wrong reasons.
They have officially come in as some of the worst-performing hydrogen stocks of the March quarter.
So, what's been weighing on these hydrogen-focused companies' shares lately? Let's take a look.
Five of the worst-performing ASX hydrogen shares
A quick note: This list only considers hydrogen shares with market capitalisations of more than $50 million.
Sparc Technologies Ltd (ASX: SPN) – down 45.6%
The March quarter was a big one for this ASX hydrogen share. Unfortunately, it wasn't to the benefit of its share price.
The first news released by Sparc was its activities and cash flow report for the December quarter. Its release saw the company's share price surge by nearly 15%.
However, that gain – and then some – was stripped as the company exited a trading halt with big news.
And exciting news it was. Sparc announced Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG)'s green energy leg, Fortescue Future Industries (FFI), was buying into Sparc's ultra-green hydrogen joint venture.
The Sparc share price plummeted 17% on the back of the announcement. The remainder of the quarter was a rollercoaster for the stock.
It gained 7% when it released more details of the hydrogen project and completed the first stage of FFI's buy-in. But it flopped 10% after the company retracted some previously-given details on the project's expected production costs and expenditures.
As of the final close of the March quarter, the Sparc share price was 88 cents, down from its starting price of $1.62.
Province Resources Ltd (ASX: PRL) – down 27.5%
In fact, the Province Resources stock gained 10.7% when it released its activities and cashflow report for the December quarter.
Hazer Group Ltd (ASX: HZR) – down 20%
It tumbled nearly 9% when the company announced a solution to a previously recognised fault in the manufacturing of a crucial part of its commercial demonstration plant.
The fault ultimately resulted in a delay to the plant's commissioning and an estimated $1 million of extra costs.
The release of the company's December quarterly update saw its stock dump 2%, while its half-yearly report saw it slip 1%. Over the six months ended 31 December, Hazer's revenue fell 51%, while its after-tax losses increased 607%.
Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) – down 15%
That's because it owns Coregas. Coregas has been involved with the Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain project, is working to supply hydrogen to Australia's transport sector, and manufactures the gas in Port Kembla.
Pure Hydrogen Corporation CDI (ASX: PH2) – down 13.6%
Finally, last quarter was a rollercoaster for the Pure Hydrogen share price on the ASX.
It started out by flopping nearly 17% after the company was forced to supply more details of its previously announced hydrogen-related deals to the ASX.
However, that slip was recovered when the company announced H2X Global – of which Pure Hydrogen holds a 24% stake – had entered into a joint venture to supply hydrogen-powered vehicles to India.
A few days later, the Pure Hydrogen share price surged again on the back of the company's activities report for the December quarter.
It also recorded notable gains following deals that will see the company commercialising a process to create turquoise hydrogen and trialling Australia's first hydrogen-powered garbage truck.
Unfortunately, the Pure Hydrogen share price slipped from 55 cents at the end of 2021 to 47.5 cents at the end of the March quarter.
