By Eric Wesoff
Greentech Media
After a painful pricing process, SolarCity (Nasdaq:SCTY) is now a public company. The stock is currently trading late in the day at $12.00, up 50 percent. Pricing the deal at $8.00 per share looks smart now, one day in to a very long slog.
CEO Lyndon Rive said in a video interview on Bloomberg TV, “What matters is what the price is in four years, not what the price is today.”
In their first post-IPO interview, Rive and Chairman Elon Musk spoke about SolarCity’s stock pricing, the solar market, and weddings.
The pair was asked by Bloomberg TV about the initial IPO price: “Who screwed up here? Something went wrong when you target $13 to $15 and end up with $8. […] Who was pushing for that valuation and didn’t get it? Was it you guys or was it your bankers, led by Goldman Sachs?”
Musk said, “Where we arrived at the $13 to $15 was based on valuing the business on fundamentals,” adding, “$13 to $15 is actually a deal — we actually think it’s worth more than that.”
Rive suggested that people confused SolarCity with solar manufacturing companies. He said “SolarCity has a totally different business model than any other solar company out there. The business model is not to sell equipment but to sell energy — and we sell energy at a lower cost than what you can buy from the utility.”
Also: SolarCity’s Stock Debut: Wall Street Success In A Struggling Market?
