After a better-than-expected pop on the first day of its IPO, Tesla’s stock (under the ticker symbol TSLA) started to slide a few days after. It is now hanging 7 percent below its initial pricing of $17, closing at $15.80 per share today.
Only a week on the market, Tesla’s stock has fluctuated greatly, trading at a high of $30.42 and dropping to a low of $14.98. While some hoped Tesla would provide the “Netscape moment” for clean tech IPOs, Tesla seems to have the same struggles other greentech IPOs have experienced. Just last month, commercial rooftop panel maker Solyndra canceled its IPO plans.
Greentech companies often face high production costs and initially low profits, a combination that makes some investors skittish. The industry also receives fewer government subsidies than traditional fuel industries like oil, which continues to receive billions in subsidies.
One wonders whether Tesla’s IPO roller coaster might worry Zipcar. The company filed for a $75 million IPO of its own in early June. Investors who bought at the IPO, as well as partner Toyota which bought $50 million worth of stock in a private placement at the same time, better have a lot of patience.
Tesla Motors, founded by Elon Musk, Marc Tarpenning and Martin Eberhard, is a company that produces a high-performance electric sports car, and is backed by a number of high-profile investors. Introduced in June 2006 to the public complete with a test drive by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Tesla Roadster is able to go from 0 to 60 in less than 4 seconds (competitive with Porsche and Lamborghini models), while also delivering 100 miles per gallon (double the...
Zipcar is a membership-based car-sharing company that provides automobile rentals to its members, billable on an hourly or daily basis. Members are able to view vehicle availability and reserve a self-service car via the internet, iPhone app, or telephone, in increments as short as one hour and pay only for time they reserve. Zipcar vehicles report their positions to a control center using in-car technology. Zipcar was founded in 2000 by Cambridge, Massachusetts. On October 31, 2007 Zipcar merged...
Toyota operates 75 manufacturing companies across 28 countries globally, and markets vehicles in more than 170 countries, thanks to the support of a 320,000-strong workforce. Toyota began selling cars in Europe in 1963, has invested over €7 billion since 1990 and currently employs some 80,000 people here. Their European operations are supported by a network of 31 National Marketing and Sales Companies in 56 countries, around 3,000 retailers, and nine manufacturing plants.
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