Ceres Power Holdings (LSE:CWR) jumped over 15% to 769.49p on Friday following what appeared to be a significant endorsement from UBS.
Bulletin board chatter pointed to a reported price target upgrade to 970p from the Swiss bank, though the note remained unverified at market close.
If confirmed, the move would represent a dramatic step up from existing broker consensus, with Goldman Sachs currently maintaining a 670p target and Jefferies at 480p.
Earlier in May, Rothschild Redburn had already signalled aggressive upward reassessment by lifting its target to £10.00, underscoring a broader shift in broker sentiment around the company’s prospects.
The surge in Ceres Power reflected broader enthusiasm around the company’s manufacturing partnership ecosystem and the accelerating adoption of solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) technology in the data centre sector.
The momentum was further amplified by a 25% overnight surge in shares of Doosan Fuel Cell, the South Korean licensee which began mass production of Ceres’ technology and recently landed a substantial fuel cell order targeting energy-intensive AI operations.
The UK group has established multiple production partnerships that are now beginning to generate material commercial momentum.
Ceres signed a landmark licensing agreement with China’s Weichai Power, bringing its total manufacturing partner count to four alongside Doosan, Delta Electronics and others.
Analysts at Jefferies highlighted the deal as critical support for revenue visibility into 2026 and 2027, with licence fees, milestones and royalties said to be in line with earlier manufacturing arrangements.
Weichai plans to build a dedicated facility producing Ceres’ fuel cell technology specifically for data centres, commercial buildings and industrial applications across China.
The Weichai partnership signals how aggressively industrialists are moving to capture the growing demand for efficient power systems supporting AI compute expansion, a market many see as the defining growth driver for next-generation fuel cell adoption.
Ceres’ long-standing collaboration with Delta Electronics, announced in early January 2024, continues to advance with Delta on track to ramp pilot production by the end of 2026.
These arrangements underscore how Ceres’ asset-light licensing model is translating into embedded positions within major commercial infrastructure rollouts.
UBS, in recent notes, had flagged a path to EBITDA and cash breakeven in 2026 if the company signs at least one additional major manufacturing licence.
The bank cited operational progress, with Ceres’ full-year 2025 results confirmed on March 26, 2026 that team and operational restructuring would deliver a 20 per cent reduction in operating costs for 2026.
Management guidance also suggested successful execution could deliver upside of around two-thirds from existing levels, contingent on closing new deals and seeing partners ramp production as planned.
Ceres shares have now climbed more than 970 per cent over the past 12 months from lows near 63.35p, reversing deep losses that followed the Bosch partnership restructuring.
The recovery reflects a fundamental reassessment of the company’s long-term commercial prospects as global industrialists race to secure fuel cell technology for data centre power.