After months of bad news, Advanced Battery Technologies (Nasdaq: ABAT) investors finally got a snippet of good news this week when the company announced it had received an order for 24,000 electric vehicles from Wuxi Hao Jie Vehicle. These aren't the same electric vehicles A123 Systems (Nasdaq: AONE), Ener1 (Nasdaq: HEV) and Valence Technology (Nasdaq: VLNC) are involved in making, but it's something.
In fact, it's a $14.73 million order for E Bikes and scooters, a modest sum even for scooters, that will be completed over the next year. The average sale price is $613.75 for these "mini" electric vehicles, which will soon be buzzing around China.
Since Variant View Research posted a negative report about the company and lawyers started looking into it, Advanced Battery Technologies stock has been in a tailspin. The stock has fallen 61% since March 29, and seems to drop a few more cents every day.
All battery (or scooter) makers have struggled this year as delays hit the industry. A123 Systems is down 45% so far this year and customers don't seem to be ramping production as quickly as hoped. Ener1 is in even worse condition, down 68% in 2011, and there's a decent possibility the stock will never come back.
The problems for Advanced Battery Technologies aren't so much customer delays as investors wondering what they can believe from the company. This most recent release at least shows the company for what it really is: a maker of cheap electric scooters.
Advanced Battery Technologies still isn't a buy, but getting back to a seminormal news cycle will be good for the company. At least that's a step in the right direction.
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