Nature of Business and Basis of Presentation

3 Months Ended

Jan. 31, 2013

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Nature of Business and Basis of Presentation

Nature of Business and Basis of Presentation

FuelCell Energy, Inc. and subsidiaries (the “Company”, “FuelCell Energy”, “we”, “us”, or “our”) is a Delaware corporation engaged in the design, manufacture, install, operation and service of ultra-clean, efficient and reliable fuel cell power plants. Our Direct FuelCell power plants produce reliable 24/7 base load electricity and usable high quality heat for commercial, industrial, government and utility customers. We have commercialized our stationary carbonate fuel cells and are also pursuing the complementary development of planar solid oxide fuel cell and other fuel cell technologies. We continue to invest in new product and market development and, as such, we are not currently generating positive cash flow from our operations.  Our operations are funded primarily through cash generated from product sales and research and development contracts, license fee income and sales of equity and debt securities. In order to produce positive cash flow from operations, we need to be successful at increasing annual order volume and continuing our cost reduction efforts.

Basis of Presentation

The accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) regarding interim financial information. Accordingly, they do not contain all of the information and footnotes required by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) for complete financial statements. In the opinion of management, all normal and recurring adjustments necessary to fairly present our financial position as of January 31, 2013 have been included. All intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated.

Certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in financial statements prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America have been condensed or omitted.  The balance sheet as of October 31, 2012 has been derived from the audited financial statements at that date, but it does not include all of the information and footnotes required by generally accepted accounting principles for complete financial statements.These financial statements should be read in conjunction with our financial statements and notes thereto for the year ended October 31, 2012, which are contained in our Annual Report on Form 10-K previously filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.  The results of operations for the interim periods presented are not necessarily indicative of results that may be expected for any other interim period or for the full fiscal year.

Certain reclassifications have been made to the prior year amounts to conform to the current year presentation. Service agreement revenue has been separated from Product sales and revenues and is now combined with license revenue. Beginning in fiscal year 2013, license fees and royalty income have been included within revenues. This change is a result of the new license agreement entered into on October 31, 2012 for our core technology and the harmonization of the agreements to reflect fees and royalties for the manufacture of complete DFC Power Plants. Classification as revenue is reflective of our Asia market partnership and royalty based strategy and this business activity has become a significant component of non-product revenue. Additionally, Advanced technologies contract revenues has been renamed from Research and development contracts to better describe the sources of revenue from contract research.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of financial statements and related disclosures in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S. requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities. Estimates are used in accounting for, among other things, revenue recognition, excess, slow-moving and obsolete inventories, product warranty costs, reserves on service agreements ("SA"), allowance for uncollectible receivables, depreciation and amortization, impairment of assets, taxes, and contingencies. Estimates and assumptions are reviewed periodically, and the effects of revisions are reflected in the consolidated financial statements in the period they are determined to be necessary.  Due to the inherent uncertainty involved in making estimates, actual results in future periods may differ from those estimates.

Concentrations

We contract with a concentrated number of customers for the sale of products and for research and development contracts. Significant revenues from individual customers for the three months ended January 31, 2013 and 2012 included POSCO Energy (“POSCO”), which is a related party and owns approximately 16 percent of the outstanding common shares of the Company as of January 31, 2013, Dominion Bridgeport Fuel Cell, LLC, U.S. Government (primarily the Department of Energy) and Logan Energy.

The percent of consolidated revenues from each customer is presented below.

	Three Months Ended January 31,
	2013		2012
POSCO Energy	69	%	64	%
Dominion Bridgeport Fuel Cell, LLC	16	%	—	%
U.S. Government (primarily the Department of Energy)	5	%	5	%
Logan Energy	—	%	11	%
Combined	90	%	80	%