Tesla Motors (TSLA) at around $18.50 remains above its pricing ($17), although below its opening ($19), and so does JinkoSolar (JKS), which at around $23 has soared above its $11 pricing, but the rest of the green IPOs over the past year have been trading underwater. The rare earth company Molycorp (MCP) came out in late July, priced below its expected range, dropped the first day, and has rebounded since, selling a bit over its offer price.
SeekingAlpha runs a story by GreentechMedia that the riskier bets have come out first, and better ones are to follow. The next run of IPOs, however, look more like public venture finance that classic IPO liquidity events for investors – greentech as closer to pharma style IPOs, where the public provides long-term project finance. These too may stink up the room.
After those comes some really interesting candidates, including the fuel cell company Bloom Energy and the solar-thermal firm BrightSource (in which I have a small indirect stake). Other interesting companies are Enphase, which makes a micro-inverter to turn solar cell output into usable electricity; Silver Springs Networks, which uses a mesh network to interconnect meters to the smart grid; and Solar City, which assists home and small business solarization. Rather than funding science projects, these IPOs will fund real businesses.
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