ITM Power's Tax-Driven Share Sale Says Little — the 150MW Refinery and a Sell Rating Say More
Published on 10/23/2026 at 04:30 | Editorial boerse-global.de
Goldman Sachs reaffirmed its sell recommendation on ITM Power on Tuesday, pointing to execution risk, cash burn and valuation, according to media reports. The stock slipped 3.1% on the day. Linking the two events directly would be a stretch — but the coincidence does frame the question investors should actually be asking: whether the hydrogen specialist's growing order book can outrun its continued losses.
A regulatory disclosure published the same day offered a separate data point. CEO Dennis Schulz exercised 672,516 options across Tuesday and Wednesday and then sold 354,476 shares to settle tax liabilities, leaving him with 517,894 shares. The weighted average exercise price was £0.05; the shares went out at £0.8587 apiece. The stated tax purpose matters here — the filing documents a mechanical, tax-driven disposal, not a manager voting with his feet on the business outlook. Equally, the retained stake is no promise about where the share price goes next.
The transaction also does nothing to explain the day's decline. Assigning the 3.1% move to Schulz's sale would give the disclosure more weight than it carries. Nor does it undercut the economic risks that underpin Goldman's negative stance. The two simply sit alongside each other.
Compensation filings had already landed a day earlier, covering deferred share bonus awards to Schulz, CFO Amy Grey and CTO Simon Bourne, plus the vesting of previously granted options. Those are remuneration mechanics, distinct from how the underlying business is performing.
Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying ITM Power?
What the numbers actually show
Monday's preliminary results for fiscal 2026, which ended on 30 April, cut both ways. Revenue reached £43.6 million, up 68%, while the adjusted EBITDA loss narrowed to £20.2 million. The company closed the year with £215.6 million in liquid funds. A hefty cash cushion, though, is not the same thing as a profitable operation — the adjusted loss remains real, and management flagged longer waits for final investment decisions on green hydrogen projects.
The contract backlog stood at ÂŁ144.0 million, with 83% of it described as profitable. That figure speaks to the quality of the order book, not to the profitability of ITM Power as a whole.
Further out, the Hydropulse venture unveiled roughly two weeks ago with a European oil refiner sketches a 150MW hydrogen project built on ITM's Alpha platform. The parties are working through joint technical front-end planning, with a final investment decision targeted for 2027 and production expected in 2029. All of it remains forward-looking — potential, not delivery.
ITM Power at a turning point? This analysis reveals what investors need to know now.
That is where the real dividing line sits. Not between insider purchases and sales, but between a backlog and project pipeline on one side and mounting losses with execution risk on the other. ITM Power will be judged on the latter.
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