Xantrex: A Canadian enigma wrapped in potential
What’s going on these days with Vancouver-based power electronics leader Xantrex Technology Inc.? Yes, the company has gone through some troubles over the past 18 months, including competition from GE, the halt in wind development last year in the United States, and glitches with its outsourcing plan. But you’d think that was all behind them by now.
The company is making some strong inroads in Europe, particularly with its solar inverter products. The wind market has picked up dramatically, which must be bringing some benefits to Xantrex. And while its outsourcing of some manufacturing has been slow, progress is being made — so the company says.
For the longest time Xantrex’s stock was hovering around the $9 mark, so presumably the above problems were factored in and the road ahead would be an incline. But the stock has inexplicably plunged in recent days below $7, raising more concerns about the company’s performance.
Now, keep in mind the stock is thinly traded, so it’s not tough to move this baby up or down. Perhaps it will rebound over the next couple of days. But my gutt tells me that a negative announcement is on the way… I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
One thing’s for sure, venture capitalists still holding Xantrex stock aren’t a happy bunch. They watched the company IPO at $18 a share. It’s all been a downhill slide from there.
Tyler Hamilton is editor-in-chief of Corporate Knights magazine and a business columnist for the Toronto Star, Canada's largest daily newspaper. In addition to this Clean Break blog, Tyler writes a weekly column of the same name that discusses trends, happenings and innovators in the clean technology and green energy market. This blog is a personal project started in April 2005. It is not an official blog of the newspaper.
