If you’ve been staring at the Clean Energy Fuels Corp stock price lately, you’re probably feeling a mix of boredom and intense frustration. It’s sitting around the $2.20 mark as of mid-January 2026. Basically, it’s stuck. It feels like a stock that’s been "about to pop" for five years, yet here we are.
Honestly, it’s a weird spot to be in. On one hand, you have analysts at places like UBS and Scotiabank shouting from the rooftops with price targets as high as $10.00. On the other hand, the actual market price is barely keeping its head above water. Why the disconnect?
It’s not just "market volatility" or some generic excuse. It’s a tug-of-war between a company that’s fundamentally changing how it makes money and a market that is tired of waiting for a profit.
What’s Actually Moving the Clean Energy Fuels Corp Stock Price?
Let's look at the guts of the business. For a long time, Clean Energy Fuels (CLNE) was just a middleman. They bought natural gas, pumped it into trucks, and took a small cut. That’s a tough way to get rich.
Now, they are becoming producers.
They are literally sticking pipes into piles of cow manure at dairies across South Dakota, Florida, and Idaho to capture methane. They call it Renewable Natural Gas (RNG). It’s clever because it turns a liability (poop) into an asset (fuel). More importantly, it qualifies for massive government credits like the 45Z Clean Fuel Production Credit.
But here is the kicker: the market hates uncertainty. We’re currently waiting on the final rules for those 45Z credits. Until the Treasury Department signs off on exactly how much those credits are worth, the "profit" is just a math equation on a whiteboard.
The 2026 Production Pivot
Andrew Littlefair, the CEO, has been pretty blunt about 2026 being the "scale year."
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- RNG Production: They expect to nearly double their RNG production this year compared to 2025.
- The Cummins X15N Factor: This is a big deal. It’s a new, massive engine for heavy-duty trucks that runs specifically on natural gas.
- Infrastructure: They are expanding into hydrogen too, like the new station they're building for Gold Coast Transit.
The stock price is reflecting a "show me" attitude. Investors have seen the revenue beats—like the $106.1 million they posted in Q3 2025—but they also saw the $23.8 million net loss that came with it.
The Bull Case: Why Some Call it a "Strong Buy"
If you talk to the bulls, they’ll tell you that CLNE is the only way to play the "hard-to-decarbonize" sector. You can’t easily run a 18-wheeler on a battery. It's too heavy. Hydrogen is still too expensive.
RNG is here now.
It’s carbon-negative. When you capture methane from a farm that would otherwise go into the atmosphere, you're doing more for the planet than just "zeroing out." That’s why Amazon and UPS have signed deals with them. They aren't doing it just to be nice; they're doing it to hit their ESG goals without breaking their supply chains.
Analysts at Raymond James and Lake Street aren't looking at today’s $2.22 price. They are looking at the $4.84 average price target. Some even see a path to double digits if the dairy projects in Texas and Idaho ramp up as planned.
The Bear Case: The "Show Me the Money" Problem
Wait.
Before you back the truck up and buy every share in sight, look at the margins. The net profit margin is currently around -49%. That’s a scary number.
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Simply Wall St recently pointed out that losses have been worsening, up about 30% annually over the last few years. The bear argument is simple: CLNE is a "subsidy queen." If the government changes the rules on LCFS (Low Carbon Fuel Standard) credits or if the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" (the 2025 tax law) further restricts clean energy incentives, the business model crumbles.
Also, the stock has a lot of "insider selling" lately. When the guys running the company are selling shares while the price is near 52-week lows, it doesn't exactly scream confidence to the average retail investor.
Technicals: The $2.20 Line in the Sand
For the chart readers, the Clean Energy Fuels Corp stock price is in a weird technical "no man's land."
It’s currently hovering right above its support level of $2.20. If it breaks below that, it could easily slide toward the $1.50 range. However, we’ve seen a "pivot bottom" signal in late December 2025, which usually suggests a short-term bounce.
Volume is rising with the price, which is a good sign. It means people are actually buying the moves, not just watching them happen.
Is CLNE Actually a Value Play?
Kinda.
The Price-to-Sales (P/S) ratio is around 1.15. Compare that to some of the high-flying tech stocks, and it looks like a bargain. But you aren't buying a software company. You're buying a company with heavy equipment, pipes, and trucks.
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The real value is in the "Upstream" business. By owning the production (the dairies), they get to keep the whole dollar instead of just a few cents from the distribution. If they can hit their goal of 20 million gallons of self-produced RNG by 2027, the earnings per share (EPS) should finally turn positive.
What to Watch in the Coming Months
You need to keep an eye on February 26, 2026. That’s the estimated date for their next earnings call.
Don't just look at the revenue. Look at the Adjusted EBITDA. In Q3 2025, it was $17.3 million. If that number keeps growing while the net loss shrinks, the "turnaround story" starts to look real.
Also, watch the Henry Hub natural gas prices. While CLNE deals in RNG, the "spread" between diesel prices and natural gas prices is what convinces fleet managers to switch. If diesel gets cheap, the incentive to swap to gas vanishes.
Actionable Steps for Investors
If you're thinking about jumping in, don't just go all-in at once.
- Watch the $2.11 Stop-Loss: A lot of traders are using this as their "get out" point. If the stock falls below this, the downward trend might be too strong to fight.
- Monitor the 45Z Rules: The moment the Treasury finalizes these credit values, the stock will move—fast. Be ready for a gap up or a sharp drop depending on the math.
- Check the X15N Adoption: Call up some trucking industry news sites. If fleets aren't buying the new Cummins engine, CLNE's growth will be capped.
- DCA (Dollar Cost Averaging): Because the stock is so volatile, buying a little bit every month is probably smarter than trying to time the "bottom."
The Clean Energy Fuels Corp stock price isn't for the faint of heart. It’s a high-risk, high-reward play on the plumbing of the green economy. It’s messy, it’s complicated, and it involves a lot of cow manure. But if the production ramp-up hits its marks in 2026, the people buying at $2.22 might look like geniuses in a couple of years.
Start by setting a price alert for $2.50. Breaking that level would be the first real sign that the bulls are taking back control of the narrative.