As I related in April 26ths "There's A Transcript For The "Jim Chanos: The Art Of Short Selling" Podcast":
...Here's the intro to the podcast but be forewarned, Chanos has a legendarily dry sense of humor. Over the years I've found it best to assume that when I don't understand something he says that he is either making a joke or actually skipping ahead a couple spaces.
A recent example occurred in August.
Chanos was shorting SolarCity and when apprised of this fact, Lyndon Rive, CEO and cousin of Elon Musk said he'd never heard of Chanos.
On CNBC the next day Chanos was being interviewed and Musk's name came up.
Without missing a beat or cracking a smile Chanos asked "Elon who?"
A couple months later SCTY dropped 21% in one day....Looks like we may have déjà vu all over again*. Links below.
From Barron's Tech Trader Daily:
SolarCity Plunges 15% on Q1 Earnings Miss; Cuts Year View
Solar energy project contractor SolarCity (SCTY), founded by Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk, this afternoon reported Q1 revenue that topped analysts’ expectations, but miss on the bottom line with a deeper-than-expected net loss, and forecast a much deeper loss this quarter.
Shares are down $3.40, or 15%, at $19.11, in late trading.
Revenue in the three months ended in March rose to $122.57 million, yielding a net loss per share of $2.56, on a non-GAAP basis.
Analysts had been modeling $110 million in revenue and a net loss of $2.31 per share .
(The net loss per share cited above is that which is “attributable to stockholders.” On a GAAP basis, that loss was 25 cents. In addition to that net loss measure, the company offers a line item that includes the company’s “non controlling interests and redeemable non controlling interests.” On that basis, SolarCity had a net loss in the quarter of $258 million. On a diluted share count of 98 million, that would be a $2.63 loss per share. )
The company deployed 2 gigawatts on a cumulative basis through the end of the quarter, it said.
CEO Lyndon Rive said the company had “kicked off 2016 with solid momentum in installations, financing and core cash generation,” despite the slow seasonal nature of the quarter, and regulatory headwinds.
We began the year reporting the third highest quarter of installations in our history with 214 MW Installed in the first quarter of 2016, up 40% as compared to the same period a year ago. We significantly exceeded our projected 180 MW mostly due to the earlier completion of a large utility-scale project in Maryland that was originally anticipated for Q2 2016. Residential installations of 184 MW grew 32% as compared to the first quarter of 2015, and commercial grew 114% year-over year to 30 MW. Eight of our installation crews completed 300 kW or more in March, with Big Bertha, Goose, Merlin, and Ramses leading the pack with 330 kW or more each.
The company forecasts revenue “from periodic billings” of $105 million to $108 million this quarter, and $14 million to $16 million from “solar energy and systems and components sale revenue,” and $16 million to $19 million from “payments and upfront incentives,” it said....MORE*Older readers may recognize a bit of Yogi Berra.
And Mr. Rive has presumably heard of Mr. Chanos by now.
Previously on SCTY:
May 5
A Handy Analysis of SolarCity's Recent Financing (SCTY)
April 26
There's A Transcript For The "Jim Chanos: The Art Of Short Selling" Podcast
Feb. 10
A Deeper Dive Into The SolarCity Debacle (SCTY)
Feb. 10
"SolarCity Inferno Chars Sunrun, SunEdison, SunPower, First Solar"
Feb. 10
Musk's SolarCity Down 31% Pre-market, Chanos Scores Big (SCTY)
Dec. 18, 2015
Chanos Says He's Still Shorting SolarCity ‘Not a Technology Company’ (SCTY)
And many, many more, going back to the pre-IPO days.
