NEW YORK, May 21, 2026, 16:01 (EDT)
• Stabilis Solutions shares were up about 14% at $4.25 in late Nasdaq trading, based on delayed market data.
• The move follows investor focus on a $200 million data-center LNG supply contract due to start in 2027.
• First-quarter revenue fell 40.2%, and the Galveston LNG project remains a key execution risk.
Stabilis Solutions Inc shares rose sharply in late Thursday trading, as the small-cap liquefied natural gas supplier drew fresh buying interest after a weak first quarter but a more upbeat contract pipeline. The Nasdaq-listed stock was up about 14% at $4.25, with volume of about 36,000 shares, according to delayed market data.
The move matters now because Stabilis is trying to shift the market’s focus from a near-term earnings trough to future demand from data centers, aerospace and industrial customers. The company said this month it had secured a $200 million, two-year LNG supply contract for behind-the-meter power generation at a U.S. data center, with deliveries due to start in the first quarter of 2027. Behind-the-meter power means electricity produced or supplied directly at a customer site, rather than bought through the main grid.
The rally came despite first-quarter numbers that were plainly soft. Revenue fell 40.2% to $10.4 million, while Stabilis posted a net loss of $4.1 million, or 22 cents a share, as two large marine and power-generation contracts ended late last year. Adjusted EBITDA — earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, adjusted for some items — swung to a $0.7 million loss from a $2.1 million profit a year earlier.
Casey Crenshaw, Stabilis’ executive chairman and interim chief executive, said in the company’s results release that first-quarter results were “expectedly soft” after the completion of two long-term contracts, but that commercial progress gave management “further confidence in the earnings trajectory of the business.” He also said Stabilis expected results to “significantly improve” in the second half of 2026. SEC
That is the bull case in a sentence: investors are looking past the hole left by old contracts and toward new LNG demand from data centers that need fast, local power supply while grid or pipeline connections catch up. Stabilis’ first-quarter filing said the company received $15 million in advance payments tied to the data-center project and expects another $10 million in advance payments, with deliveries expected from the first quarter of 2027 through the first quarter of 2029.
The company’s peers did not show the same kind of move. Clean Energy Fuels rose about 1% to $2.01, New Fortress Energy was little changed at about 60 cents, and Excelerate Energy slipped slightly to $35.50 in late trading, underscoring that Thursday’s rise looked stock-specific rather than a broad LNG trade.
Stabilis is still a thinly traded name. Its market value was about $79 million at the quoted price, making the stock more prone to sharp moves when buying or selling interest picks up.
The company’s competitive position rests on small-scale LNG supply and delivery, not giant export terminals. Reuters’ company profile says Stabilis provides LNG production, storage, transportation and fueling services to markets including aerospace, agriculture, marine bunkering, mining, remote power and utilities, and operates liquefiers in George West, Texas, and Port Allen, Louisiana. Liquefiers cool natural gas into LNG so it can be stored and moved more easily.
There is a cleaner balance-sheet angle, too, but it is mixed. Stabilis reported $13.7 million of cash at March 31, including $10.6 million that was restricted, plus $3.5 million available under credit agreements. The company also said it had cash flow from operations of $12.4 million in the quarter, helped by the customer advance payments.
The risk is Galveston. In an April filing, Stabilis said it terminated a previously announced 10-year LNG supply agreement tied to its proposed 350,000 gallon-per-day Galveston liquefaction facility after financing partners sought changes the counterparty would not accept. The company said the termination would delay the final investment decision, financing and development timeline, while it continued talks with potential customers on alternative offtake arrangements.
That makes the next few months important. Stabilis has said the Galveston project needs more offtake, or customer commitments to buy supply, before moving ahead. If those talks drag, or if data-center demand takes longer to convert into revenue, Thursday’s stock move could fade quickly.
For now, traders are giving the company credit for the data-center order book and for management’s second-half recovery message. The harder test is whether those contracts start showing up in revenue before the old-contract drop leaves a deeper mark.
