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State stands by SolarCity as stocks slump

Posted at 6:04 PM, Feb 10, 2016
and last updated 2016-02-11 06:47:22-05

Construction cranes, cones, and crews illustrate progress at the future SolarCity production site at Riverbend in Buffalo. But that is going on as the company stock prices continued to plunge Wednesday.

Prices dropped 29 percent, closing at $18.63 a share. Anthony Ogorek is the founder of Ogorek Wealth Management. He said, “The market has all the information that's notable about this company, and it's voting on it, and the latest vote it gave it was not very encouraging.”

But,state officials said it doesn’t have an impact on the Buffalo project. “New York State is fully committed to leading the green energy revolution through a sound, innovation-based, manufacturing and commercialization strategy, in partnership with global corporations, such as SolarCity, arguably an industry leader. Recent market activity in no way effects the Riverbend project or the more than 5,000 SolarCity jobs it will create in New York,” said SUNY Polytechnic President and CEO, Dr. Alain Kaloyeros.

The state's investing a record $750 million in the project, and the company has promised 3,000 new jobs and billions in investments.

Calls and emails to SolarCity weren't returned. But according to Fortune.com, the company attributes the tank to the fact that it didn't install as many panels as it planned in 2014. It also ran into challenges after it abruptly pulled its business out of Nevada. But it's expecting growth in 2016.

Still, Ogorek said the stock market suggests the state's investment is risky. “It's a speculative company. People may not realize how speculative it is."

SolarCity ranks 27 out of 2,500 in short interest stocks on the NASDAQ. In other words, investors have very little confidence in the company's stock value.

Ogorek said he thinks we should be taking a critical look at offering taxpayer dollars for a publicly traded company. “All we hear are cheers about what a wonderful thing this is going to be, and I just think people need a reality check.”