Why did Plug Power shares climb nearly 8% on Wednesday? New, strong views from UBS

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Plug Power (NASDAQ:PLUG) shares surged almost 8% Wednesday as the developer of clean hydrogen and fuel-cell technology received some new enthusiasm from UBS analyst Manav Gupta.

Prior to the start of trading, Gupta started his coverage of Plug Power with a buy rating and $26-a-share price target. Gupta cited Plug Power's (PLUG) potential in the "green hydrogen" industry as it "aims to be a one stop shop and market leader in the space."

Gupta said Plug Power (PLUG) is in such a strong position that it could be the leader in a market worth as much as $10T.

Interest in Plug Power (PLUG) was higher than usual on Wednesday, as almost 27M shares of the company's stock were exchanged by the time U.S. stock markets closed. The company averages 16.8M shares traded on a daily basis.

Opinions about Plug Power (PLUG) are varied. Wall Street analysts have a consensus buy rating on the company's stock, while Seeking Alpha authors, however, give Plug Power's (PLUG) shares a hold rating.

Meanwhile, Seeking Alpha's Quant System, which historically outperforms the stock market, is more negative on Plug Power (PLUG) and gives the company's stock a rating of sell.