UQM Technologies (UQM) reported earnings last night that were in line with the analyst estimate of a .03/share loss on the EPS side, but missed the revenue estimate of $2.39 million (posting $2.28 million).  This is a company that continues to struggle, but sees potentially rapid growth next year with the CFO predicting profitability in Q1 2011 with some help from the DOE.

CFO Donald French commented: “During the first quarter of fiscal 2011 we expect to bill the DOE under our $45.1 million Assistance Award for production engineering costs incurred since August of last year totaling more than $1.6 million and to record this amount in first quarter financial results as a reduction in operating expenses. Accordingly, we currently expect to be profitable for the fiscal 2011 first quarter.”

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CEO William Rankin commented on the future prospects: “The magnitude and visibility of our DOE award, our “first mover” advantage as the volume electric propulsion supplier to CODA Automotive and our collaborative marketing arrangement with BorgWarner are creating numerous additional opportunities that could lead to accelerating revenue growth over the next several years. We are looking forward to continued expansion in FY 2011 and substantially improved financial results.”

Shares are off 12% today with the help of a Piper Jaffray downgrade. 

They downgraded from Overweight to Neutral and slashed the price target from $7 to $4.50.  “We are lowering our rating on UQM from Overweight following a roughly in-line fiscal Q4. Our more cautious stance is largely tied to the lack of news regarding new contract wins. Our previous assumptions, which included revenue in 2011 from a new customer (Fisker Automotive) now appear too optimistic. We are reducing our 2011/2012 estimates to reflect these concerns. UQM is actively working with several potential customers, but we prefer taking a ‘wait and see’ approach considering the risk that these contracts do not materialize.”