

Tesla Motors Sets IPO For Week Of June 28  - rjett
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20100615-709209.html?mod=WSJ_latestheadlines

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Aaronontheweb
This seems insane - these guys have sold, what, 2000 models at the most? And
they would be even worse off the instant all of their government subsidies dry
up.

Their innovation may be remarkable, but the fact is that they make a product
which isn't economically feasible without a lot of help from taxpayers doesn't
bode well for the long-term health of the company.

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mkramlich
maybe oil companies should invest in Tesla. they have billions to spare, it
would give them green cred, and act as a hedge for the case where demand
shifts from gas to electric powered vehicles.

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Aaronontheweb
I don't think demand is going to shift to electric until it becomes more
economical than combustion. Path of least resistance still rules the economy.
Telsa's current state of affairs indicates that electric has a long way to go
before it can viably compete in the mass market.

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risotto
How does one take part in an IPO? Can I use my E-Trade brokerage account?

I'm just getting into investing, I know its risky times and a risky company,
but I think battery tech is the future and Tesla obviously knows a few things
here.

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rjett
If you're interested in participating in an IPO and you have ETrade, I would
use this page as a jump off:
<https://us.etrade.com/e/t/estation/pricing?id=1301050000>

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risotto
Awesome, I found Tesla in the upcoming IPOs section.

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chip
But there is nothing under current offerings, any idea when it becomes
available for participation?

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zefhous
For the full article, click the first link here:

<http://www.google.com/search?q=wsj+tesla+178+Million>

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blizkreeg
Do you guys think it's a good idea to buy TSLA on day one?

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smakz
I would say no. The strongest analogy between Tesla and a recent IPO I see is
Clearwire - similar circumstances, large capital intensive business with some
hype behind the technology but no real revenues to back it up.

Getting into an IPO on day one is usually not a good idea unless the company
has reliable revenue and there is a reason to expect 20-30+% growth near term
(Google, First Solar,etc). Many ipos will look like Clearwire (and for
example, American Apparel, Isilon, and to some extent Rackspace etc.), a IPO
price which stays steady then a significant drop.

Tesla won't have a reliable revenue increase until 2012 as far as I can tell,
which is a long time of stagnation which the market will not take kindly too,
IMO.

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rjett
I'm not familiar with Clearwire, but perhaps another useful analogy would be
the stock of Vonage, which IPO'd in 2007 at $13ish I believe. Vonage wasn't
profitable up until last year and their stock is at $2.47 as of today's close.

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johnrob
I wonder if a liquidation event like this is going to make it hard to keep key
employees around. The company is hardly at a place where it can afford to lose
people and "hold the line".

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csmeder
I really hope these guys succeed, I know the founder has been having money
troubles and it has made me worry about Tesla's future. This is an industry
that can use a jolt of innovation.

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mrshoe
According to the article, Musk owns at least 28.8% of Tesla, which is about to
go public. He's not having money troubles; he's having divorce troubles.
Surely his claims of the former are to help him with the latter.

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MikeCapone
Tesla's main competition right now is Nissan with the LEAF. They need to scale
up and drive down the price of the Model S and 3rd model rapidly, or they'll
get buried by the big players.

What they've done is great from a technological standpoint, but they need
economies of scale to keep going.

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beefman
You think a $50,000 luxury sedan with a 200-mile range, more interior room
than an SUV, and a < 6s 0-60 time competes with a $25,000 econobox with a
100-mile range and a top speed of < 90mph?

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MikeCapone
I said the companies are competing, not those specific models.

Nissan's future plans no doubt include putting its electric drivetrains in
cars like the Infinity G37/Altima Coupe, its mid-size Sedans, Murano
crossover, etc, and they'll have a lot more production capacity (ergo
economies of scale) and bigger R&D budgets than Tesla, so they'll definitely
end up competing against each other. Nissan also has the benefit of being an
established company with a good reputation; it will take a bigger leap of
faith for the mainstream public to buy a Tesla, even if their 3rd model costs
30k.

Tesla started at the top of the market and Nissan near the bottom, but they'll
no doubt meet in the middle and compete for the most lucrative segments.

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zandorg
I'm waiting for the (also Musk-led) SpaceX IPO. I hope there is one soon.

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mkramlich
interesting that Tesla suddenly announces IPO a few days after the big news
splash about the big lithium deposit find in Afghanistan. I'd expect a big
lithium find to push down battery prices in the future and a Tesla car is
battery intensive. Even if Tesla ends up not using lithium not every investor
will know that.

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kirpekar
The announcement was not "sudden", but the date has been in discussion
publicly for over 6 months. In fact Toyota agreed to invest 50M in Tesla only
if it IPOed before the end of the year.

