Capstone Turbine Posts Another Loss

Capstone Turbine(CPST Quote), which has yet to post a profit in its nine years as a public company, said it lost another $12 million in its just-ended quarter.

Still, late last week, the maker of microturbines saw its stock rocket higher by almost 100% after a UK engineering firm said it had used Capstone's machines to build a commercially viable biodiesel engine for a hybrid Ford(F Quote) S-Max sedan.

The news cheered investors who have long been pining for Capstone to prove that it can be profitable.

Capstone stock, after all, has been the beneficiary of intense investor enthusiasm for alt-energy plays through the years, the first just after it went public in 2000, when its shares exploded from an IPO price of $16 to a high of nearly $100. The company had the backing of high-profile venture investors, including Microsoft(MSFT Quote) co-founder Paul Allen and Compaq Computer co-founder Benjamin Rosen.

But 9/11 and the bursting of the Internet/tech bubble brought the stock crashing below $1.

Two other similar boom-bust cycles -- though far less severe -- have afflicted the stock, one in 2005-2006, and the second in 2008-2009 (which, in fairness, was perhaps more macro than micro).

For the fiscal fourth quarter ended March 31, the company's per-share bottom line showed a loss of 6 cents, even with analysts' estimates. Revenue for the quarter came in at $11.8 million, up 28% from the year-ago period.