Startups with more than one billion valuation on the stock market are considered unicorns. It’s a rare breed that Swiss battery company Energy Vault has owned since it went public in New York in February. The market value of the Ticino company rose to CHF 1.5 billion.
First time over with high flight. The Energy Vault has lost more than a billion francs. For now, there is no specific designation for the success of a stumbling unicorn.
doubts about its effectiveness
The company’s idea is as impressive as it is simple: Using excess energy, heavy weights are lifted by a kind of crane. If the electrical grid needs energy, the concrete blocks are lowered again using gravity and the resulting energy is fed into the grid. An ideal power storage device, at least in theory.
In practice, the technology doesn’t seem to have proven itself, at least that’s what critical investors believe. There are also doubts about Energy Vault’s growth and revenue plans. The stock was targeted by short-solders, that is, investors who bet on falling prices.
Can management refute the allegations?
In a recent report, activist short-seller Bleecker Street Research accused management of deceiving shareholders in announcing new electricity storage projects, as German “Handelsblatt” wrote. Bleecker Street Research calls the idea a “scientific project for middle school.”
Other short films also criticized Energy Vault’s management.
Key question: Can management refute the claims and offer a credible growth strategy? Or are the critics right? Then another drop in stock is inevitable. (co)