Topic: How To Invest

Hi, Pat: Could I have your opinion on SolarCity? Thanks.

Article Excerpt

SolarCity Corp., $52.13, symbol SCTY on Nasdaq (Shares outstanding: 96.6 million; Market cap: $4.9 billion; www.solarcity.com), provides rooftop solar systems for homeowners, businesses, schools and government agencies in the U.S. The company creates a customized energy plan for each customer, then sells, finances, engineers, installs, monitors and maintains the system. Customers can “sell” any electricity they don’t use onto the power grid for credits they can use to “buy” electricity at night. SolarCity continues to grow quickly. In the three months ended December 31, 2014, the amount of megawatts deployed rose 70% from a year ago, the number of megawatt orders booked jumped 103%, and SolarCity added 21,318 clients, bringing its total to 189,657 as of the end of the quarter. In 2013, it had a customer base of 44,579. The company can grow this quickly because the homeowner doesn’t pay an upfront fee for its solar systems, which was a huge deterrent in the past. Instead, residents sign long-term leases, and thanks…