A123 IPO Roundup (AONE)

Update below.
Original post:
The stock closed at $20.29 up $6.79 (50.30%). As I said this morning in "A123 Systems jolts IPO market (AONE)":

I don't have an interest in IPO's in general (all the allocation shenanigans, quid pro quo, etc.) but would be remiss if I didn't at least mention this one...

Don't let my proclivities spoil the fun, here's some of the better first day reporting:
First up, representing the Dow Jones blog empire (Heard on the Runway is must read during Milan Fashion week), Environmental Capital:

Cleaning Up: Is A123 System’s Explosive Stock-Market Debut The Real Deal?

...Is this the beginning of the green tech revolution or a reprise of the tech bubble?

Let’s take a look under the hood, as it were. A123, based in Cambridge, Mass., makes batteries that power hybrid and electric cars, among other things. The market for electric cars could be potentially huge, since the U.S. and other big economies want to wean themselves off oil and curb greenhouse-gas emissions.

How huge is anybody’s guess. Actually, it’s A. T. Kearney’s guess—A123 used to use market forecasts from Lux Research, but those were fairly conservative. So since this summer, A123 has been relying on Kearney forecasts of the market for lithium-ion batteries for electric cars: $32 million today, but poised to grow to $21.8 billion in 2015 and $74 billion in 2020.

That might very well be the case. Or it may not—as A123 points out in its prospectus, the world is a fickle place. Oil and gas prices might get cheap and stay there, eroding demand for electric cars. Political will—so important to support the not-yet-cost-competitive electric-car market—could evaporate. Somebody else might invent the next big thing. And so forth.

Actually, as A123 notes, its real fears are more pedestrian. It does a lot of manufacturing in China, where intellectual-property laws are lax. Its rivals are better-funded, and have deeper relationships with carmakers that plan to use the batteries. Staying competitive on costs will be a challenge, especially since China has jumped into the battery business with both feet....MORE

From Bloomberg:

A123 Surges in First Day on Electric-Vehicle Demand

...The initial public offering came 14 months after A123 filed to sell shares amid the worst market for venture capital-backed startups in nearly 40 years. Investors were enticed by an electric-vehicle market that may expand 700-fold in six years, said Matt Therian, an analyst at Renaissance Capital LLC.

“What’s attracting investors is an end market that’s expected to grow so quickly,” said Therian.

A123 received $13.50 a share in the IPO after raising its sale price twice this month. A123’s offering was initially priced at $8 to $9.50 share. The funds will help build a factory for lithium-ion car batteries in Michigan, the company said today in a securities filing.

The global market for electric and hybrid electric vehicles was forecast to surge to $21.8 billion by 2015 from about $31.9 million this year largely because of government incentives, according to analysis by A.T. Kearney.

Government Aid

“The government is feeding the whole food chain for electric vehicles,” said Theodore O’Neill, an analyst at Kaufman Brothers in New York.

A123 is expanding U.S. manufacturing of automotive batteries in a market dominated by New York-based Ener1 Inc. and Milwaukee-based Johnson Controls Inc., O’Neill said. He has a “buy” rating on Ener1 and doesn’t yet rate Johnson Controls or A123.

A123 last month was awarded $249 million in federal stimulus grants out of $2.4 billion the Obama administration is spending on electric vehicle development. Recipients of the grants agreed to match the federal investments.

“We think Ener1 is way ahead of A123 in that they already have U.S. manufacturing,” O’Neill said.

A123 currently doesn’t get any revenue from the prismatic battery technology that automakers favor, Renaissance’s Therian said. “It’s a highly competitive space and they’re not the only one trying to build a prismatic battery.”

Foreign Competitor...MORE

From the hometown paper, the Boston Globe:

Shares in A123 IPO hit $20.09 in afternoon trading

..."It's going to give us the capital that we need to expand the business and it's going to provide comfort to our customers," said A123 Systyems chief executive David Vieau.

In the past, he added, customers have questioned whether the company had the "firepower we needed to scale up our battery," Vieau said. "And we just demonstrated that we do."

The shares began trading today on the Nasdaq Global Market under the ticker symbol "AONE," the company said in a press release.

The company now will almost certainly exceed the $250 million minimum it was hoping to raise with its first public offering offering of stock. At least a portion of the money raised will be used to match government funding, including a $249.1 million stimulus grant awarded to A123 Systems by the US Department of Energy for a manufacturing plant in Michigan.

A123 Systems has received more attention as interest in advanced battery technology has grown, spurred by last summer's high oil prices, as well as growing concerns about global warming and energy independence.

The company's initial public offering is considered by some as a bellwether for how successful the emerging advanced battery industry will be as companies expand production of lithium ion products meant to power everything from cordless power tools to cars and the electric grid.

Bruce Harrison, an automotive consultant at Lexington forecasting firm IHS Global Insight, said that the industry's success as an alternative power source for cars depends on several factors.

"One, the cost has to come down for these batteries," Harrison said. "Second, the power density has to increase to the point where the application of a battery means the vehicles operate similarly to the way an internal combustion engine does -- meaning, you can get 300 miles out of them [before recharging]."

Update: Here's part II of the roundup:

A123 IPO Roundup II (AONE) "A123 in Talks to Settle Lithium Battery Patent Fight "

Technology Transfer: "Chinese auto firm Wanxiang swoops in to rescue (& own) A123" (AONE)

A123 has been the recipient of over a quarter-billion dollars in Federal grants with tens of millions more coming from the state of Michigan.
From earth2tech:

Suffering battery maker A123 Systems has found a lifeline in Chinese auto giant Wanxiang. Wanxiang will invest up to $450 million in A123 which could see it own up to 80 percent of the company.

Ailing battery maker A123 Systems has found a savior and potential acquirer. Chinese auto giant Wanxiang says it plans to invest up to $450 million in A123, in a deal that could eventually see Wanxiang own 80 percent of the firm.  The entire $450 million investment is subject to A123 meeting certain conditions.
The CEO of A123 David Vieau called the news “the first step toward solidifying a strategic agreement that we believe would remove the uncertainty regarding A123′s financial situation.” A123 announced earnings today, too, and for the second quarter lost $82.90 million, up from $55.40 million from the second quarter a year earlier.

A123 has been bleeding cash for months. In the first quarter of this year A123 lost $125 million, more than double the loss from the first quarter of 2011. Revenues are also just trickling in: for the second quarter A123 generated just $16.99 million. That’s less than half of the revenues it generated for the second quarter in 2011....MORE

 The deal prices out to 55 cents/share for 80% of the company. 49 cents last up two cents.
Here's the last shareholder slideshow dated May 15.

Paging Al Gore: Lithium Battery Maker "A123 'Temporarily' Lays Off 125 in Michigan" (AONE)

Remember the "These are good jobs, jobs that can't be offshored" schtick.
Me too.
From Greentech:

The lithium ion battery maker blames the layoffs on slashed orders from customer Fisker Automotive. When will business pick up enough to bring them back? 

Thanksgiving didn’t have much to offer by way of thanks for about 125 employees of A123 who were laid off from the lithium-ion battery maker’s Livonia and Romulus, Mich. factories last week.

The layoff announcements came just weeks after A123 reported rising third-quarter losses and lowered its annual revenue forecast, a sad state of affairs it blamed on reduced orders from big customer Fisker Automotive.

A123 has said it hopes to hire back the workers after six months or less, and still employs about 700 workers at the two plants and at A123’s engineering center in Ann Arbor, Mich.. “The part we really want to stress is we expect it to be temporary, hopefully a blip we all get past,” A123 spokesman Dan Borgasano told local reporters.

Still, for a company that built its Michigan plants with the help of a $125 million state grant and a $249 million Department of Energy stimulus grant, it’s a bad way to enter the holiday season. Given the troubles that bankruptcies at DOE loan guarantee winners Solyndra and Beacon Power have given the Obama Administration, A123’s layoffs aren’t going to be welcome political news in the White House, either.
A123 has laid blame for the layoffs squarely on Fisker’s decision to reduce its orders for battery packs. The two companies inked a partnership last year which came along with a $23 million investment by A123 into Fisker.

But Fisker has struggled to deliver its first car, the high-end hybrid Karma sports car, with only about 40 cars delivered to date. Earth2Tech reported that A123 said Fisker is now looking to delay full-scale Karma production until mid-2012 — that despite the fact that it’s raised close to $700 million, most recently with a $58 million tranche of a $150 million “pre-IPO” round....MORE

You may also remember this 2009 WSJ story:

Gore-Backed Car Firm Gets Large U.S. Loan

WASHINGTON -- A tiny car company backed by former Vice President Al Gore has just gotten a $529 million U.S. government loan to help build a hybrid sports car in Finland that will sell for about $89,000.
The award this week to California startup Fisker Automotive Inc. follows a $465 million government loan to Tesla Motors Inc., purveyors of a $109,000 British-built electric Roadster. Tesla is a California startup focusing on all-electric vehicles, with a number of celebrity endorsements that is backed by investors that have contributed to Democratic campaigns.

The awards to Fisker and Tesla have prompted concern from companies that have had their bids for loans rejected, and criticism from groups that question why vehicles aimed at the wealthiest customers are getting loans subsidized by taxpayers.

"This is not for average Americans," said Leslie Paige, a spokeswoman for Citizens Against Government Waste, an anti-tax group in Washington. "This is for people to put something in their driveway that is a conversation piece. It's status symbol thing."....MUCH MORE

Why A123 Didn't Get the Volt Contract

From MIT's Technology Review:

GM is playing it safe with its promised electric car, choosing a veteran battery supplier.

There's still no official word (it's expected by the end of the year), but it looks as though A123 Systems, a company based on a remarkable new battery chemistry formulated at MIT, won't be supplying the batteries for the first generation of GM's new electric car, the Volt. The contract, according to a couple of news reports released in recent weeks, will go to LG Chem, a Korean company.

GM had considered A123, a startup with no large-scale experience manufacturing automotive batteries, in part because A123 had developed a novel battery chemistry that produced very powerful, safe, and long-lasting batteries. So, why didn't the company get the contract?

First, some background on why A123 was in the running in the first place. A123 replaced the cobalt-oxide-based electrodes of conventional lithium-ion batteries with new nanostructured iron-phosphate electrodes. These phosphates are inherently safer than the cobalt-oxide-based chemistries, which have been known to suddenly burst into flames, destroying laptops and cell phones in the process and leading to massive recalls. The conventional cobalt materials also don't last very long--that's why laptop batteries have to be replaced every couple of years. The capacity of A123's batteries, in contrast, doesn't fade much with use. Safe, long-lasting batteries are essential in cars, where they're expected to survive abusive conditions for a decade or more. Ultimately, cost is the biggest issue, and A123 has advantages in this area as well. Safer materials ultimately reduce costs by decreasing the need for redundant safety systems (such as those used in the Tesla Roadster). What's more, longer-lasting materials reduce the need to oversize the batteries to make up for fading capacity over their lifetime--something else that reduces costs. Finally, by replacing cobalt with iron, A123 also reduced the cost of materials.

LG Chem uses a manganese-oxide-based electrode, which is less inherently safe than A123's phosphate-based materials. The company uses other modifications to the cells, including a novel separator between the positive and negative electrodes, to make up for this....MORE

HT: Peak Energy

A123 Raises I.P.O. Price Range (AONE; GE)

First up DealBook:

A123 Systems raised the expected price range for this week’s initial public offering, suggesting strong demand for shares of the maker of lithium-ion batteries.

The company, which plans to go public on the Nasdaq, said it now expects to sell shares at between $10 to $11.50 each, up from a previous range of $8 to $9.50. At the high end, the offering could be worth nearly $300 million, including shares being sold by current investors....MORE
Here's the Boston Globe story they link to:

Raining Checks

There is no shortage of people writing big checks to A123 Systems Inc., the Watertown battery company. Now public stockholders are about to pile on.

A123 is expected to go public this week in an initial stock offering worth about $200 million, by far the most important Massachusetts IPO of the year. It’s the stock market’s glitziest offering in a week that may turn out to be the busiest for IPOs since December 2007. Expect the deal to be priced tomorrow.

If A123 is a new name to your ear, you haven’t been paying attention to the hype over electric cars and hybrid autos. Many people believe A123’s lithium-ion technology is going to be a hit in the auto industry, though the company’s batteries are already used in consumer products such as power tools and have applications in electric power grids.

A123 originally filed its IPO paperwork in August last year. The stock market was already weak by that time, but it fell off a cliff soon after. The company’s IPO plans were put on the shelf, and it looked as though they could stay there a long while.

That was a serious problem because A123, for all its promise, was producing red ink by the barrel.

But money started to rain on A123 from many different directions. Affiliates of General Electric Co. decided to invest $30 million in the company last fall. Venture capital investors, who had been looking forward to the IPO and an investment exit strategy, were writing checks instead by the spring. They ponied up another $30 million in April and May, though half came again from GE....MORE

A123 Systems Going Public, S-1 Filed Today (AONE)

UPDATE II, June 23, 2009 Amended Prospectus

UPDATE- Here are some of our posts that mention A123:
Lithium-Ion Batteries for Less

A123 Systems plugs lithium-ion batteries into power grid

An Electrifying Startup (A123)

The A123 Systems IPO: Signed, Sealed ... But Not Yet Delivered

From the United States Securities and Exchange Commission:
SEC Accession No.
0001047469-08-008964
Filing date: 2008-08-08
Accepted: 2008-08-08 08:09:58

UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549

---

FORM S-1
REGISTRATION STATEMENT
UNDER
THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

---

A123 Systems, Inc.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Delaware (State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)		3690 (Primary Standard Industrial Classification Code Number)		04-3583876 (I.R.S. Employer Identification Number)
A123 Systems, Inc. Arsenal on the Charles 321 Arsenal Street Watertown, Massachusetts 02472 (617) 778-5700 (Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of registrant's principal executive offices)

---

David P. Vieau Chief Executive Officer A123 Systems, Inc. Arsenal on the Charles 321 Arsenal Street Watertown, Massachusetts 02472 (617) 778-5700 (Name, address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)

---

Copies to:
John H. Chory, Esq. Mark G. Borden, Esq. Susan L. Mazur, Esq. Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP 1100 Winter Street, Suite 4650 Waltham, Massachusetts 02451 (781) 966-2000		Keith F. Higgins, Esq. Ropes & Gray LLP One International Place Boston, Massachusetts 02110 (617) 951-7000

Approximate date of commencement of proposed sale to public: as soon as practicable after this Registration Statement is declared effective.

If any of the securities being registered on this form are to be offered on a delayed or continuous basis pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933, check the following box. o

If this form is filed to register additional securities for an offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. o

If this form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(c) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier registration statement for the same offering. o

If this form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(d) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier registration statement for the same offering. o

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See definitions of "large accelerated filer," "accelerated filer," and "smaller reporting company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):

Large accelerated filer o		Accelerated filer o		Non-accelerated filer ý (Do not check if a smaller reporting company)		Smaller reporting company o

---

CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE

Title of Each Class of Securities To Be Registered		Proposed Maximum Aggregate Offering Price(1)		Amount of Registration Fee(2)
Common Stock, $0.001 par value per share		$175,000,000		$6,878

This is going to be all over the internet, we'll have more next week. Here's the S-1.
HT: Cleantech:

The battery maker files to raise up to $175 million in an initial public offering.

Watertown, Mass.-based A123 Systems, which makes advanced lithium-ion batteries and battery systems for the transportation, electric grid and portable power markets, announced today that it plans to raise up to $175 million in an initial public offering.

The company has not yet set the number of shares or a price range, but expects to trade on the Nasdaq under the symbol "AONE."

The news of the filing comes amid a rocky time for the auto industry, which is retooling for smaller, more efficient cars after a drop in sales of larger, gas-guzzling SUVs and light trucks.

A123 Systems has already inked deals that could put its batteries in electric and hybrid vehicles from Norway's Think Global and Detroit's General Motors (NYSE: GM) (see GM, A123Systems to co-develop battery).

The planned share sale also follows a development milestone from a potential competitor in the energy storage market. Last month, Cedar Park, Texas-based ultracapacitor developer EEStor announced the enhancement of its chemical purification processes (see EEStor's Weir on ultracapacitor milestone)....

A123 IPO Roundup II (AONE) "A123 in Talks to Settle Lithium Battery Patent Fight "

Roundup I is here. First up we go back to Bloomberg for the headline story:

A123 Systems Inc., a maker of lithium batteries for plug-in cars that first sold stock today, is in talks to end a patent dispute with the University of Texas and Hydro-Quebec over technology underlying its products.

The parties “continue to engage in ongoing settlement discussions that may resolve the issues in dispute in this matter,” A123 said in a Sept. 15 court filing. Shares of the Watertown, Massachusetts-based company soared 50 percent in the first day of trading on optimism A123 will benefit from the U.S. push for battery-powered vehicles.

“We have a strong business model and don’t see this as a major issue,” Ric Fulop, A123’s co-founder and vice president of business development, said in an interview. He declined to discuss the litigation or settlement discussions....MORE

Next up, the Cleantech Group's blog:

Spotlight on A123's executive comp

With Watertown, Mass.-based A123Systems’ IPO bearing the weight of the watchful eyes of the cleantech world today, could this be the start of the boom that boosts the comp for executives in the energy storage space, as it did in the solar sector in 2008? (see Solar boom kicks salaries higher).

Well, it’s too soon to say. But one thing it does do is put the once very private company, which manufactures high-power lithium ion batteries that use its patented nanophosphate technology, into the public spotlight, including how much its executives stand to benefit from the transaction (see A123Systems up and climbing after Nasdaq debut).

According to the company’s S-1 filing, CEO David Vieau has a base salary of $300,000 for 2009, while other top management each have base salaries of $210,000, including: CFO Michael Rubino, Vice President and General Manager of the Energy Solutions Group Robert Johnson, VP of Global Sales Evan Sanders, and Bart Riley, the company’s founder, CTO, and VP of research and development....MORE

Finally, CNN Money has a longish piece with some tidbits:

AONE IPO charges car battery market

...Buzz around the company is running high. "I heard it was standing room only at many of the presentations," before money managers, said one person familiar with the firm.

The company is closely watched for several reasons.

First, its origins and backers give it some credibility in the high tech world.

The company, an outgrowth of the research labs at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology , is based in Watertown, Mass. along the Route 128 technology corridor. It was founded in 2001 with a $100,000 grant from the Department of Energy, and now has facilities in 10 countries. The firm has around 1,700 employees, mostly located abroad.

Analysts give the company credit for developing a very competitive technology that relied on the nanotechnology research from MIT.

Since then then it has raised money from venture capital funds and a few high profile companies, including General Electric (GE) and Motorola (MOT).

The firm recently won a $250 million grant from the federal government to build a production facility outside Detroit - the second largest grant awarded in a recent $2.4 billion round of stimulus-related funding. The factory will complement production facilities the company already has in Asia.

And Asia is probably the biggest reason A123 is so closely watched. The firm is one of just a few American companies that are competing with much larger Asian rivals for the potentially lucrative hybrid and plug-in electric car battery market...MORE

A123 Systems Chief Financial Officer Michael Rubino to Leave Company in Early 2011 to Join Cleantech Startup (AONE)

You never like to see the CFO packing his bags.
The stock is still trading at a 35% discount to the IPO price.
Press Release via MarketWatch:

A123 Systems (AONE 8.85, -0.15, -1.67%) , a developer and manufacturer of advanced Nanophosphate(TM) lithium ion batteries and systems, today announced that Michael Rubino, CFO and vice president of finance & administration, will be leaving the company effective January 14, 2011 to join a Boston-based cleantech startup. A123 has initiated a search for Rubino's successor.


"Mike has been a great asset to A123 Systems, helping us establish a leadership position in the lithium-ion battery industry and guiding us from early financing stages through our initial public offering in September 2009. While his talents will be missed, we wish him the very best of luck with his future pursuits," said David Vieau, president and CEO of A123 Systems. "We believe the future for A123 looks very bright, thanks in large part to the robust financial, legal and information technology teams that Mike helped put in place. His leadership has helped position us to build a large and profitable company."

"My time with A123 Systems has been an extremely rewarding experience," said Rubino. "I remain confident in the company's market position and long-term opportunity, and expect A123 to continue to grow and prosper as one of the industry's leading providers of lithium-ion battery technology."

"A123 Systems 3Q Loss Widens, But Rev Tops Estimates " and "Traders short A123 Systems' Dec call options" (AONE)

After ending the day up thirteen cents, the stock is now down a nickle in early after-hours trade.
From Dow Jones Newswires:

A123 Systems Inc.'s (AONE) third-quarter loss widened, hurt by higher costs and expenses, even as the electric-car battery maker saw revenue rise slightly.

Shares of A123, which held a well-received $380 million initial public offering in September, jumped 3%, to $18.52 in after-hours trading, as revenue topped Wall Street estimates.

A123 is benefiting from auto-industry interest in clean-energy technologies, resulting in deals with BMW AG (BMW.XE) and Chrysler Group LLC to develop lithium-ion batteries for hybrid and fully electric vehicles. But the company has been burning through cash, raising expectations it will hold debt or stock sales to raise money.

A123's loss widened to $22.8 million, from $19 million a year earlier. The per-share loss narrowed, to $1.78 from $2.06, as there were more shares outstanding in the most recent period...MORE

From Reuters via Forbes (Nov. 6):

Shares of A123 Systems fell 5.2 percent to $16.73 after Jim Cramer from CNBC's Mad Money TV Program said easy money has been made on the lithium-ion battery maker and the stock is now played out. A123 Systems shares jumped 50 percent on their first day of trading after its initial public offering in September.

In the options market, sellers turned up to short call options expiring in December with a $22.5 strike price, wrote Andrew Wilkinson, senior market analyst at Interactive Brokers Group, in a note to clients....

"A123 Insiders Soon Free to Sell as Lock-Up Period Ends" (AONE)

AONE closed at $15.39 yesterday.
The stock came public last September at $13.50. The first day of trading it closed at $20.29, up 50.30%.
In one of our AONE posts that day:

I don't have an interest in IPO's in general (all the allocation shenanigans, quid pro quo, etc.) but would be remiss if I didn't at least mention this one, the stock is trading at $19.77, up $6.50 (45.5%). This is not a buy rec....

Don't let my proclivities spoil the fun, here's some of the better first day reporting:
First up, representing the Dow Jones blog empire (Heard on the Runway is must read during Milan Fashion week), Environmental Capital:...

I pretty much forgot about the stock as it ran up to $28-something until our October 27 post "What on Earth Has Happened to A123? (AONE)":

Sorry about the disappearing act, reality intruded in the form of BIDU's $80 drop and subsequent $30 rebound.
I just happened to take a glance at A123, the stock had an $18 handle!...

And again it dropped off my radar. Now I'm getting intrigued (but read the links in the above post first).

The chart action, via BigCharts:

Here's the latest, from earth2tech:

Just five more days. And on the sixth day, officers, directors, employees and early investors in A123Systems holding more than 71 million shares of common stock in the battery maker will be free to cash out. While certain volume restrictions can still apply under federal securities law, Monday marks the end of what’s called a “lock-up period,” lasting 180 days from A123’s $371 million initial public offering.

The point of lock-up agreements like those that underwriters secured with A123 insiders ahead of the company’s September IPO is to prevent a company’s stock from gushing too quickly onto the market. Too much stock unloaded in a short period could put a damper on the stock price in early trading.

A123 explained the worst-case scenario in the risk section of its prospectus last fall, writing that when its lock-up agreements with shareholders expire, ”A significant portion of our total outstanding shares may be sold into the public market…which could cause the market price of our common stock to drop significantly, even if our business is doing well.”

A123 notes that shares don’t actually have to be sold en masse to have this effect. Rather, the simple, “market perception that the holders of a large number of shares intend to sell shares, could reduce the market price of our common stock.”>>>MORE

Batteries: A123 Expects $125 Million Quarterly Loss, Stock Approaches Theoretical Support at $0.00 (AONE)

Headline too snarky?
The stock is at $0.948 down 8%, you tell me.
The company reports tomorrow.
From the Detroit Free Press:

A123 expects $125 million loss in first quarter

Battery maker A123 Systems expects a loss of $125 million in the first quarter, more than 10 times its total revenue of $10.9 million, the company said today.

A123 lost $53.6 million in the first quarter of 2011 and $29 million in the first quarter of 2010. It reported revenue of $18.1 million in the first quarter of 2011 and $24.5 million in the first quarter of 2010.

Massachusetts-based A123, which employs about 800 workers at plants in Romulus and Livonia and a research and government relations division in Ann Arbor, lowered its 2012 revenue forecast. A123 projected sales of $145 million to $175 million, down from previous predictions of $230 million to $300 million....MORE

...A123's troubles take on a political bent because it received a $249.1-million federal economic stimulus grant in 2009 in addition to $135 million in tax credits, incentives and grants from the Michigan Economic Development Corp. in 2008....

Battery Manufacturer A123 Files S-1/A, Amended Initial Prospecus with the SEC June 22, 2009

UPDATE below.
Original post:
Back in August '08 we posted "A123 Systems Going Public, S-1 Filed Today (AONE)".
Since then Lehman went bankrupt, Washington Mutual was seized, Wachovia merged with Wells Fargo, Bank of America and Merrill became MERdeBAC, the U.S. auto industry became a subsidiary of the U.S. Treasury.

You know the usual stuff.

Yesterday A123 filed their amended prospectus.
From the SEC, first up the filings page for A123 SYSTEMS, INC. (0001167178):

Form	Formats	Description	Filing Date	File/Film No
S-1/A	[html][text] 4 MB	[Amend]General form for registration of securities under the Securities Act of 1933 Acc-no: 0001047469-09-006463 (33 Act)	2009-06-23	333-152871 09904338
D/A	[html][text] 12 KB	[Amend]Notice of Exempt Offering of Securities, item 06 Acc-no: 0001167178-09-000003 (33 Act)	2009-06-11	021-39833 09886125
D	[html][text] 12 KB	Notice of Exempt Offering of Securities, item 06 Acc-no: 0001167178-09-000002 (33 Act)	2009-04-17	021-39833 09755453
S-1/A	[html][text] 3 MB	[Amend]General form for registration of securities under the Securities Act of 1933 Acc-no: 0001047469-08-012552 (33 Act)	2008-11-25	333-152871 081213461
S-1/A	[html][text] 3 MB	[Amend]General form for registration of securities under the Securities Act of 1933 Acc-no: 0001047469-08-011486 (33 Act)	2008-10-31	333-152871 081154686
S-1/A	[html][text] 3 MB	[Amend]General form for registration of securities under the Securities Act of 1933 Acc-no: 0001047469-08-010779 (33 Act)	2008-10-09	333-152871 081115135
S-1	[html][text] 10 MB	General form for registration of securities under the Securities Act of 1933 Acc-no: 0001047469-08-008964 (33 Act)	2008-08-08	333-152871 081000433

That gets us back to Aug. '08. Here's the amended S-1: Form S-1/A
Personally I'm going to start with the 506 offering (D/A)
Have at it, I'll have more later.
UPDATE:
A123's Q1 revenue rises, loss widens

A123 Systems Inc.’s first quarter revenue more than doubled year over year, but a spike in research and administrative costs helped widen its net loss, according to a recent Securities and Exchange Commission filing....MORE from the Boston Business Journal

See also:
Climateer Investing: Better Batteries: General Electric, A123 and ...

Vinod Khosla: A123, EEStor Not So Hot, My Investments Good

They didn't go as far as the Tarzan, Tonto and Frankenstein monosyllables* but the headline is still pretty funny.
From Greentech's Greenlight:

Vinod Khosla, the man behind Khosla Ventures, is listing his turn-offs again.

The "What Vinod Doesn't Like" piece is pretty much a standard, recurring phenomenon in green. A few years ago, he argued with Hermann Scheer from the German Parliament, about photovoltaic panels. At other times, he's championed ethanol and criticized other approaches.

In Grist this week, Khosla criticizes battery maker A123 Systems, which makes lithium ion batteries, and EEStor, an ultracapacitor maker.

A123, he points out, lost out to LG Chem in the contract for the Chevy Volt:

"I think the traditional approach to lithium ion battery making, such as A123, is going to be competing in an overheated, nearly-commoditized market and will probably not (I guess never say never!) get down the cost curve in the next 5 years... A number of incremental improvements are underway, but they will at best offer a 2X improvement in price performance."

Like other lithium-ion battery makers, A123 will also be hampered by the fact that these batteries have flammable electrolytes, which forces companies to insert expensive safety measures, and won't live up to performance claims. It's a legit argument in many ways. To make its battery safer, A123 uses a lithium-phosphate chemistry, which can't hold as much energy as the more volative lithium cobalt or lithium-nickel manganese. One of the reasons General Motors went with LG Chem was the chemistry issue. Nonetheless, Chrysler has signed a deal with A123....MORE

Turnoffs include...

*SNL Season 13, episode 8:

Succinctly Speaking

Kathleen Fulmer...Nora Dunn
Tarzan...Kevin Nealon
Tonto...Jon Lovitz
Frankenstein...Phil Hartman

[Open on talk show

set with title SUPER: "SUCCINCTLY SPEAKING." Theme music plays. Seated from left to right are Frankenstein, host Kathleen Fulmer, Tarzan and Tonto]

Don Pardo V/O: "Succinctly Speaking" with Kathleen Fulmer.

[Applause as camera zooms in to Kathleen]

Kathleen Fulmer: Good evening and welcome to "Succinctly Speaking." I'm Kathleen Fulmer. My guests today include Tonto, Tarzan and Frankenstein. All right, Tarzan, let's start with you: Fire.

Tarzan: Fire good.

Kathleen Fulmer: Mm-hmm. Tonto?

Tonto: Fire good.

Kathleen Fulmer: All right. Frankenstein?

Frankenstein: [Growls] Fire bad!

Kathleen Fulmer: Okay, we have a difference of opinion, and I think that's what makes our forum work, the give and take. Don't you think? [Tarzan and Tonto nod. Frankenstein scowls at Kathleen] Okay, let's move on, shall we? Bread.

Frankenstein: [Growls] Bread good!

Kathleen Fulmer: Hold on. Hold on, Frankenstein, we'll get to you. Tonto?

Tonto: Bread good, Kemo Sabe.

Kathleen Fulmer: Mm-hmm. Tarzan.

Tarzan: Bread good.

Kathleen Fulmer: All right.

Tarzan: I no.. I no eat bread.

Kathleen Fulmer: Good. Frankenstein?

Frankenstein: Bread, gooood!

Kathleen Fulmer: All right. Now before we move on, let's talk about something that is in the news very much these days: the I.N.F. Treaty. Tarzan?>>>MORE

Interview: A123 IPO in "3-6 Months"

This one is going to get a lot of scrutiny.

*A123 expects to go public in the next three to six months

*U.S. cell manufacturing facility a 'strong consideration'

*Competition to supply batteries for Chevy Volt 'close' (Adds details on IPO, Volt contract, quotes, byline)

By Soyoung Kim

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich., Aug 15 (Reuters) - Battery maker A123 Systems expects to go public in the next three to six months through a planned $175 million initial public offering, its chief executive said on Friday.

A123, which is competing to supply next-generation lithium-ion batteries for General Motors Corp's (GM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) all-electric Chevy Volt, is "strongly considering" building a U.S. battery manufacturing facility, Chief Executive David Vieau told Reuters on the sidelines of an industry forum.

Watertown, Massachusetts-based A123 filed for an initial public offering last week to raise as much as $175 million. It had not detailed the expected timing of its market debut.

"That has to assume everything happens according to the schedule but certainly in three to six months," Vieau said when asked about the timing.

A123 plans to use the proceeds from the IPO to expand manufacturing facilities and pay off debt. Continued...

"Is There Hope for Battery Maker A123?" (AONE)

I somehow managed to avoid this one [citigroup roundtrip $3.86 to $5 to $3.61? -ed]
The stock is trading down 5.2% at $9.48, above its flash crash lows.
From Shifting Gears:

A123 (AONE), a startup battery maker based in Massachusetts that staged last year’s most highly touted IPO, turned in somewhat disappointing first-quarter financial results. This is one of those high-tech, greentech, Economy 2.0 companies that everyone wants to see succeed, but that may be at the heart of, and in fact may even define, an investment bubble in lithium-ion batteries for electric cars.

Analyst Stephen Simpson sums it all up in Investopedia:

A123 is not a stock for the faint of heart. Rival technologies could prove to be more desirable in the market and stocks like these are known for wild moves up and down in the meantime. On top of that, the odds that A123 actually realizes its plans are relatively low. If the technology works as well as it should, it is more likely that the company gets a bid by a rival like Johnson Controls or some other large company - like, say, General Electric. Nevertheless, for investors who can handle a potentially wild ride, this is an interesting name for further due diligence.

His views aren’t out of the mainstream. For background, the Wall Street Journal has A123’s basic story:

The company went public at $13.50 in September, jumping 50% in its first day of trading. But the shares have been under pressure since the beginning of the year--dropping 50% year to date, well off their high of $28.20 from October.

The company, formed in 2001 with a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, made its first sale about three years ago. While revenue has been rising, so have net losses. A123 probably won't be profitable until next year, at the earliest....MORE

A123 Update: Wunderlich Sees Slower Ramp of Electric Vehicles in U.S., Europe (AONE)

The stock is trading three cents off the day's low, at $8.00, down 8.13%.
Following up on this morning's quick hit, "A123 Systems (AONE) Shares Getting Whacked as Wunderlich Cuts to Sell" (AONE).
From TheStreet:

A123 Systems(AONE_) is experiencing heavy selling volume on Tuesday after Wunderlich Securities analyst Theodore O'Neill downgraded the lithium ion battery maker to a sell.

For some time already the Wunderlich analyst has been skeptical about the expected pace of electrical vehicle adoption and the ramp in the lithium ion battery makers' operations.

Inherent in the A123 Systems downgrade on Monday is Wunderlich's modeling of a slower ramp in the electrical vehicle business in both the U.S. and Europe. As a result, the Wunderlich analyst sees no choice for A123 Systems but to head back to the capital market to raise more money by early 2012 at the latest. The analyst is forecasting a cash balance for A123 Systems of less than $10 million by the end of 2012....MORE

This Makes More Sense, Reuters Re-Writes Their A123 Systems Story (AONE)

Reuters reporting of A123's earnings (loss) yesterday was nonsensical so we didn't link to the original story, update 1 or update 2. Here's update 3. The stock is down over 5% this morning.
From Reuters:

UPDATE 3-A123 posts loss, revenue beats Wall St

* Q3 loss/share $1.78 vs $2.06/share loss a year ago

* Q3 revenue $23.6 mln vs $19.2 mln Wall Street estimate

* Shares slip 1.6 percent to $17.70 in after-hours trading (Adds details on Chrysler relationship, workforce, share movement, changes analyst comment)

LOS ANGELES, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Battery maker A123 Systems Inc (AONE.O) posted revenue that beat Wall Street estimates along with a big loss on Tuesday, in its first quarterly results since its closely watched share debut in September.

A123, which develops batteries for electric cars and plug-in hybrids and works with Chrysler and General Motors [GM.UL], reported third-quarter revenue of $23.6 million, up from $22.9 a year ago and topping analysts' average view of $19.2 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Chief Executive David Vieau tried to allay analysts' concerns about A123's relationship with Chrysler after the carmaker said last week it would dismantle its team working on electric vehicles and fold its plans into Fiat SpA (FIA.MI).

"I'd say we've maintained what we had as a relationship and we've strengthened it in terms of expanding the different people that we deal with," Vieau said on a call with analysts.

The company also said it was in various stages of talks with seven different passenger car customers and was working on a new design for a new heavy duty vehicle for customer BAE Systems Plc (BAES.L).

Pacific Crest Securities analyst Ben Schuman said a firm supply agreement with Chrysler was probably "number one" on investor's watch-list....MORE

GE, Cleantech and Your Tax Dollars

Marc Gunther is pretty green and has been for as long as I can remember. He's also a good analytical thinker.
Although he doesn't mention it, I find it astounding that GE's CEO Jeff Immelt is an advisor to President Obama at the same time his company has $51 Billion of a subsidiary's debt guaranteed by the FDIC.
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
From GreenBiz via Reuters:

Let me state my bias upfront: I’m am admirer of GE and its chief executive, Jeff Immelt, and the company’s ecomagination initiative.

GE and Walmart are, as I have written, the most influential companies in America, and it’s great that they are serious about becoming more sustainable, and working with their customers and suppliers to do so as well.

But I can’t help but be struck by the extent to which GE’s clean energy businesses depend on federal and state tax and regulatory policy, along with grants and loans from the government.

Wind energy, solar energy, nuclear power, cleaner coal, smart grid initiatives, energy efficient appliances, compact fluorescent light bulbs -- all of these either benefit from current policy, get stimulus money or Department of Energy grants, stand to benefit if the climate-change legislation strongly supported by GE is enacted into law, or all of the above.

This is fairly obvious, admittedly, to anyone paying attention to the energy and climate debate, but it was brought home to me vividly last week, at a GE Ecomagination Forum that focused on GE Capital’s venture investments in cleantech startups.

You can read more about GE’s venture business a column I wrote for fortune.com, called GE Brings Good Things to Startups, and in an interview and podcast with Kevin Skillern, the managing director of venture capital for GE Energy Financial Services, which are available at Greenbiz.com.

Since 2006, GE’s venture fund has smartly invested about $160 million in 20 startups in such businesses as wind and solar power, batteries, energy efficiency, smart grid and fossil fuels.

Of GE’s portfolio companies, the star performer and recipient of GE’s biggest investment -- about $69 million -- is a company called A123 Systems that makes advanced lithium ion batteries and appears to have a very promising future.

A123 makes batteries for the transportation, utility and consumer markets, for such customers as Daimler, Chrysler, Volvo, Better Place/Renault, Black & Decker, AES and Procter & Gamble’s Duracell unit. Investors alongside GE, which is A123’s biggest shareholder, include Sequioa Capital, ConocoPhillips, AES, Motorola and P&G. Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin drive electric cars powered by A123 batteries, as does Tom Hanks. Not a bad list of endorsements.

Here’s the thing, though. A123 has been given more than $600 million in grants, loans or tax credits by the federal and state government to build a new plant in Michigan. They include a $249 million grant from the DOE’s Electric Drive Vehicle Battery and Component Manufacturing Initiative, another $100 million in refundable tax credits from the state, and $27.5 million more from the U.S. Advanced Battery Consortium. Separately, Nissan, an A123 customers, got a $1.6 billion loan to retool a factory to make electric cars and batteries. The climate bill will provide another boost to electric cars....MORE

I have come to think of the GE approach as no different from Italy in the '20's and '30's:

"Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power. "
-B. Mussolini via BrainyQuote

Is Black and Decker pulling away from A123?

From Greentech Media's Greenlight blog:

The S-1. Such a troublesome document.

Unconfirmed rumors have swirled in recent weeks that Black & Decker, the large power tool maker, wasn’t happy with battery maker A123 Systems. Black & Decker is the largest customer for A123 and accounts for over half of the company’s revenue.

We called the company in July and A123 said that the relationship and contract with Black & Decker was still in place and that the tool maker was buying all the batteries “that we can supply.”

We have no reason to doubt it and the contract with Black & Decker is clearly still in place. But information about the company’s revenue contained in A123’s filing with the SEC that may give some people reason to ponder if something is going on between the two companies. On page 57 of the S-1, A123 says that demand has declined from its “most significant customer.” An increase in revenue in the first quarter of 2008 to $10.3 million from $8.1 million in the first quarter of 2007 was due to the acquisition. See below:...MORE

What on Earth Has Happened to A123? (AONE)

Sorry about the disappearing act, reality intruded in the form of BIDU's $80 drop and subsequent $30 rebound.
I just happened to take a glance at A123, the stock had an $18 handle!
Here's the chart (from BigCharts):



As I said the day the stock started trading:

...I don't have an interest in IPO's in general (all the allocation shenanigans, quid pro quo, etc.) but would be remiss if I didn't at least mention this one...

The only things I know for sure are the stock is 25% cheaper than it was four days ago (below the first day close!) and earnings (loss) are due on Nov. 10.
Previously:

A123: A deeper look (AONE)
Investing in the Battery Industry (AONE; ENS; HEV; XIDE)
A123 Systems vs. BYD and Other Irrational Battery Investments (AONE; BRK.A)
A123 IPO Roundup II (AONE) "A123 in Talks to Settle Lithium Battery Patent Fight
"GE, Sequoia on A123Systems and cleantech (AONE)