Solar Installer Vivint's IPO: Opportunity and Risks

[Jason]

Why is it that everybody has heard of SolarCity but few outside the solar industry have heard of Vivint Solar? That changed on October 1 when the New York Stock Exchange welcomed Vivint to the ranks of publicly-traded companies. Vivint Solar is the second largest installer of solar panels in the United States. The initial public offering was at $16 per share, valuing the Blackstone Group LP -backed company at $1.68 billion. Don't you wish you had some of the action? Now that the share price has dropped to 12, maybe not. What happened and is there some defect in Vivint's business model? As more solar energy companies go to the public markets, Vivint may be a cautionary tale or may be viewed as a great investment opportunity.

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[msacco]

Sorry about the spam, but Im just testing if I can message, as it seems like I can't open new threads...

[JSchnee21]

Please keep in mind that all of these "tech" oriented "big-box" solar companies are just a flash in the pan. None of them have sustainable business models. It's all creative financing, loan and PPA forecasting, and various other MBA nonsense. If you like gambling, and can afford to lose, by all means. But don't kid yourself. Sunrun, Vivant, NRG, and the like are all just 21st century versions of Enron. Even the once mighty SunPower has fallen on hard times.

They have nothing to do with Solar power, per se, as a legitimate product and business segment.

While I prefer SolarEdge -- as an Israeli company they are fairly well run -- you have to hand it to Enphase who has been fighting back from the brink of bankruptcy for several years now with real products and real innovation.

-Jonathan

[azdave]

No need to keep posting in this 2014 thread folks. It's just a new guy has brought it back to life because this forum won't let new people start a new thread (but it will let them bring back a 4-year old thread). Sure wish there was a way to inform the new members that they don't get full privileges immediately.

New guy...Welcome! Once a mod approves you fully, you will be able to start a new topic. Please sit tight until then.

[Sunking]

Just about all Solar IPO's are there to do one thing. Make the initial investors very rich. Once the IPO's are bought, the intial investors cash out and leave the rest holding the baggage. Look at any solar manufacture, and looked what has happened. Sun Power is a great one to look at. It peaked after IPO at $133.61 12-17-06. Today only worth $6. Now if you could have gotten in on the IPO which required a $500,000 investment on 11/21/05 for a strike price of $25.68, and sold two years later you are one happy happy camper because you turned $500,000 into $2,601,144 in two short years or a 520% capital gains. Not the greatest but pretty good. Very few people can actually get into an IPO because it takes a sizable chunk of cash and only the privileged can join that club. Brokers only invite their largest investors to get into the action.

Most are suckers and those that bought in at the $130 level have a huge loss on their hands rightfully so.