We can't help but like EnerSys (ENS). EnerSys does not make batteries for starting cars. This a company that has a strategy and is sticking to it. As a large manufacturer of lead acid batteries, it would be so easy to expand into more sectors such as the car business. Recent results seem to verify the strategy as a good one, if not an exciting one.

When people talked about penny stocks, I used to think about junior mining stocks. Now I think about green energy stock. A great example is the manufacturers of lithium batteries. Shares in lithium battery maker A123 Systems (AONE) were up 45% for the day. What’ so exciting?

Advanced Battery Technologies (ABAT) is building credibility one quarter at a time. They just released their June quarter numbers, showing revenues at $31.3 mln, up 37% for the quarter compared to 2010.

The company’s financials again knock the ball out of the park. In addition to the revenue growth number, the company delivered stellar net profits: 32 percent net profit after tax. How often do you see a company that does that?

Markets in recent months have not been kind to companies developing the next generation of batteries for electric vehicles. Many of these companies are in such an early stage of development that normal metrics such as revenue and earnings are meaningless. PE ratios and PEG ratios and the like mean little when you have no earnings. They remind me of the tech bubble of the late nineties when many companies with no track record or revenue were worth a billion dollars.

In a world full of bad stock market news, battery makers have been hit particularly hard. Whether or not you think the price drop is deserved, the sell-off on some of the up and coming lithium-ion battery companies is at least understandable. Who wants to hold on to highly speculative stocks at a time when holding even blue chip stocks feels a bit like gambling? Companies like Advanced Battery (ABAT), A123 (AONE), Valence (VLNC) and Ener1 (HEV) have lost from 17% to 37% of their value in five days.

The name is Exide Technologies, but the company doesn’t feel like a technology company.  It appears that someone forgot to tell Exide executives that they are at the forefront of an exciting new industry. Fortunately the stock is cheap to buy at 0.19 Price/Sales (ttm) ratio, if you don’t fall asleep on your way to phoning the broker.

 No question that Tesla makes a cool car. 

The high-performance all electric vehicle is the toast of eco-sensitive millionaires and talk show hosts.  Unfortunately, according to our stock value screening test, Tesla is one of the worst investments we can imagine making.  Just because you love the product, does not mean you should love the stock.