--- the subscriber area has no ads and those above are not selected or endorsed by this site ---


Superconductor Tech rumors and reality ?5

22:54 05-Jul-15


SCON jumped over 25% after hours on Friday, to $1.39.  Seeking Alpha attributed the move to Kopp Investment Advisors upping its stake.  I think it has more to do with a somewhat widespread rumor that Tesla could use the STI cables for its Supercharger network.  It is true that Tesla is improving that network, but I very much doubt that the EV pioneer will use STI cable in the near term.  Even if Tesla were to eventually adopt HTS wire for its charging solutions, I also doubt that it would need the best-in-class wire that STI is working on; an established producer like AMSC would probably do just fine, and that broader applications expertise would be likely to be far more valuable than the actual wire characteristics.

As I recently wrote, SCFL applications are STI's nearest term revenue opportunity, and I expect that the stock fundamentals will be governed by whether or not that opportunity can be realized before further financing is necessary.  STI financing has certainly not been at favorable terms in the past, though it could be worse.  I suspect that the Tesla rumor has more to do with outstanding SCON warrants than real, near-term prospects for STI.