2024-05-20T13:49:18-04:00 https://archinect.com/news/article/149953303/elon-musk-thinks-tesla-could-be-worth-1-trillion-if-it-buys-solarcity Amelia Taylor-Hochberg 2016-06-22T19:31:00-04:00 >2018-01-30T06:16:04-05:00 <img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/4d/4d6d336ab4e60cafbc305ae89e1c4d2a?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=1200" border="0" /><em><p>SolarCity's solar panels with Tesla's electric vehicles and stationary storage batteries was "what the world needs, the ultimate solution" to a sustainable-energy future. "As a combined automotive and power storage and power generation company, the potential is there for Tesla to be a trillion-dollar market cap company," [Musk] added. [...] Musk said costs for both companies would go down significantly after the merger, but he did not give specifics.</p></em><br /><br /><p>Elon Musk already sits on the board and owns 22% of the Buffalo-based SolarCity, "the leading installer of residential solar panels" in the US. Musk is convinced that the merger is a no-brainer, but according to&nbsp;<em>Reuters</em>, analysts aren't so smitten with the prospect.</p><p>"While we don't doubt that some customers who are interested in electric vehicles and storage products are also interested in going solar, we don't necessarily buy that there is a meaningful cross-sell opportunity &ndash; especially currently," RBC Capital Markets analyst Joseph Spak told <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-solarcity-m-a-tesla-research-idUSKCN0Z81JD?mod=related&amp;channelName=globalEnergyNews" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><em>Reuters</em></a>.</p><p>Another analyst, Brian Johnson of Barclays, doesn't have a rosy view either:&nbsp;"While no doubt the Tesla bulls will hail the combination as visionary, we believe the assumption of another $2.6 billion of debt to fold in a solar company with limited synergies and uncertain growth/cash prospects only reinforces our negative view of Tesla."</p><p>A <a href="http://The%20SolarCity%20team%20has%20built%20its%20company%20into%20the%20clear%20solar%20industry%20leader%20in%20the%20residential,%20commercial%20and%20industrial%20markets,%20with%20significant%20scale%20and%20growing%20customer%20penetration.%20They%20have%20made%20it%20easy%20for%20customers%20to%20switch%20to%20clean%20energy%20while%20still%20providing%20the%20best%20customer%20experience.%20We%E2%80%99ve%20seen%20this%20all%20firsthand%20through%20our%20partnership%20with%20SolarCity%20on%20a%20variety%20of%20use%20cases,%20including%20those%20where%20SolarCity%20uses%20Tesla%20battery%20packs%20as%20part%20of%20its%20solar%20projects." rel="nofollow" target="_blank">press release</a> issued by the Tesla Team yesterday noted how partnering with SolarCity would produce "...</p>