With the business potentially at an important milestone, we thought we'd take a closer look at Bloom Energy Corporation's (NYSE:BE) future prospects. Bloom Energy Corporation designs, manufactures, sells, and installs solid-oxide fuel cell systems for on-site power generation in the United States and internationally. With the latest financial year loss of US$302m and a trailing-twelve-month loss of US$284m, the US$2.4b market-cap company alleviated its loss by moving closer towards its target of breakeven. As path to profitability is the topic on Bloom Energy's investors mind, we've decided to gauge market sentiment. In this article, we will touch on the expectations for the company's growth and when analysts expect it to become profitable.

According to the 24 industry analysts covering Bloom Energy, the consensus is that breakeven is near. They expect the company to post a final loss in 2024, before turning a profit of US$16m in 2025. The company is therefore projected to breakeven just over a year from today. What rate will the company have to grow year-on-year in order to breakeven on this date? Using a line of best fit, we calculated an average annual growth rate of 84%, which is extremely buoyant. Should the business grow at a slower rate, it will become profitable at a later date than expected.

Given this is a high-level overview, we won't go into details of Bloom Energy's upcoming projects, however, take into account that by and large a high growth rate is not out of the ordinary, particularly when a company is in a period of investment.

Before we wrap up, there's one issue worth mentioning. Bloom Energy currently has a debt-to-equity ratio of over 2x. Generally, the rule of thumb is debt shouldn't exceed 40% of your equity, and the company has considerably exceeded this. Note that a higher debt obligation increases the risk around investing in the loss-making company.

Next Steps:

There are key fundamentals of Bloom Energy which are not covered in this article, but we must stress again that this is merely a basic overview. For a more comprehensive look at Bloom Energy, take a look at Bloom Energy's company page on Simply Wall St. We've also compiled a list of important aspects you should look at:

1. Valuation: What is Bloom Energy worth today? Has the future growth potential already been factored into the price? The intrinsic value infographic in our free research report helps visualize whether Bloom Energy is currently mispriced by the market.
2. Management Team: An experienced management team on the helm increases our confidence in the business – take a look at who sits on Bloom Energy's board and the CEO's background.
3. Other High-Performing Stocks: Are there other stocks that provide better prospects with proven track records? Explore our free list of these great stocks here.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.