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Money & Company

Electric-car maker Tesla opens strong after IPO

By Tiffany Hsu
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Despite a plunge in the stock market overall, investors clamored for shares of electric sports car company Tesla Motors Inc. Tuesday, pushing the stock up more than 7% in the first hours of its hotly anticipated first day of trading.

Updated at 1:20 p.m. PDT: Tesla’s shares closed up $6.89, or 40.5%, to $23.89, as a major wave of buying began to lift the stock at about midday.

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The stock, trading on Nasdaq under the symbol TSLA, was sold to investors at $17 a share on Monday, in the first IPO from a U.S. automaker since Ford Motor made its offering in 1956, Palo Alto, Calif.-based Tesla and a number of its original shareholders raised a total of $226 million by selling 13.3 million shares.

Chief Executive Elon Musk rang the opening bell at the Nasdaq market. The company on Monday boosted the size of its offering 20% amid strong investor demand. Proceeds will go toward commercializing Tesla’s Model S sedan, expected to sell for about $57,000. One risk is that the Model S, to be introduced in 2012, will follow electric car launches by several major automakers including Ford and Nissan.

-- Tiffany Hsu

Money & Company
Tiffany Hsu

Tiffany Hsu is a former staff writer for the Los Angeles Times. Previously, she wrote about the California economy, fast food, restaurants, retail and alternative energy for the Business section. A Bay Area native, UC Berkeley graduate and eternal Nor-Cal fan, she once worked for the San Francisco Bay Guardian. She also did a stint at the Richmond Times-Dispatch, where she developed a passion for sweet tea. She still has faith that someday she’ll find two economists who agree.

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