Tesla Motors Falls 18%

Shares of Tesla Motors (TSLA) traded sharply lower on Monday as traders dumped the stock due to the company's 180 day lockup period expiration.

The IPO lockup period is a restriction placed on company and majority shareholders to prevent sharp sell side trade imbalances. Tesla, which went public in June, saw its shares tumble by 18% for the day.

Tesla Motors, based in Palo Alto, California is an innovative motor company developing electronic vehicles.The high performance $109,000 Tesla Roadsters have been sold in over 31 countries. Currently, the company is not profitable.

In May 2010, Tesla and Toyota Motors announced an agreement to develop electronic vehicles together starting with the power train for the Toyota RAV4. Tesla also announced purchase of the New United Motor Manufacturing (NUMMI) production facility in Fremont, California.

In late June 2010, Tesla raised $190 million on 12 million shares in an initial public offering. Tesla is founded by entrepreneur Elon Musk who was PayPal's founder.

Do you buy it here?
Not until the $49,000 Tesla Model S comes out in 2012.

About Kerry Kobashi

Kerry is the founder of KerryOnWorld. He lives in Silicon Valley and has worked as an engineer and project manager. He owns Kobashi Computing a consulting company.