Izotropic Update, Vision Marine Inbox
Good morning, Investors! With all the excited talk of rockets to Mars and such in recent days, there’s a moon shot you’ve already missed a part of if you blinked! And that’s been the BIG spike over the last few weeks or so in shares of long-suffering Izotropic Corp.
At long last, as I’ve sent along to you a few times (the news itself, followed by a couple of very high-profile examples of industry coverage and approval) renewed excitement is surrounding Izotropic and the apparent restarted process to get its Izoview Breast CT Imaging System eventually to market.
As management highlighted on the 9th (THIS NEWS that it has filed its pre-submission report with the FDA following a long period of back and forth with the agency) it still sees a clinical study timeline of about 2 1/2 years ahead of it. BUT, the overall cost is going to be substantially less than the (as it turns out) prohibitive amount contemplated in pre-COVID work; at a much more manageable $3.5 million or so.
This is the latest happy example of being rewarded for sticking with (and doubling down on for those of you who did) a legitimately good story/science. There’s never been a question that Izoview represents the next major technological advancement in the earlier detection of breast cancer (and now with possibly additional applications.) The team led by Dr. John Boone at U.C.-Davis and others are world-recognized and had various hands in the advances of recent years to date.
Now, seemingly, things are operational once more to move forward. Following the above-referenced news, the company last week ANNOUNCED its augmented team that will be furthering things. This–and the associated favorable industry press that’s accompanied all this news–has changed sentiment toward Izotropic remarkably.
After such a surge as we’ve seen in IZO shares in recent days, some profit taking won’t shock me. So it’s officially in an “Accumulate” status now.
Further, we’re likely to see the company at some point soon announce that it’s going to refill its coffers at least somewhat. Yet one positive thing on the subject of financing is that–to this point–Interim C.E.O. Bob Thast has been uber-frugal in NOT trying to raise money until there was this new reason to do so. Thus the share count remains low (under 60 million).
ONLY if your timing was especially good in averaging down late in 2024 would you want to consider taking some money off the table. Otherwise, unless you do have a particularly outsized position now, ride (and even add to, perhaps, on profit taking) your IZO position.
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One ongoing stinker I have not felt it wise to double down on yet is Vision Marine.
My regard for management’s forthrightness has not recovered following last summer’s blindsiding of all of us, when those two rapid 1-for-10 consolidations without warning decimated our positions. Since then, C.E.O. Alex Mongeon has been making himself scarce by and large; conversations I’ve had a couple times over the last few months with other management have been unsatisfying.
VMAR has shown signs of life business-wise. All that as well as a just-updated Corporate Presentation can be found HERE.
And the company recently announced a whole new slate of promotion and boat show appearances as it tries to get renewed traction and generate more actual sales and rentals via all its efforts.
Save for a couple very brief pops in its share price (much of it outside of official hours, and–as in the past–seemingly, trading activity by some of the company’s financers and other mercenary traders) VMAR has been flatlining anew for weeks sub-$2/share. I’ve contemplated advising that we 1. double down south of that $2/share level and 2. Have a sell order around $4 or so for everything, in order that the end result be essentially a wash and we can just get this one behind us. BUT I’m worried still about throwing good money after bad until I am able to get a realistic assessment anew from Mongeon.
Consider, too, that Roth recently slashed its own VMAR price target for this year from $6/share down to $1.50 (SEE HERE): with them, too, there’s some skepticism over just how quickly the company will score meaningful revenue against a continued (and now newly heightened) need to raise money.
On that last score, VMAR just announced that it closed a nearly C$6 million offering. Besides that it has blown through, last I knew, C$12 million from a shelf registration (I’m not sure what’s left of that.) On that latter subject especially it’s been disappointing that we’re all learning about these big cash infusions after the fact: yet with STILL no demonstrable increase in revenues. Indeed, 2024’s run rate for the year through Q3 was a fair bit less than 2023’s revenues.
Without question, Vision Marine is the BEST story among the handful of fledgling companies in the boating electrification field. And to be fair, the few others that are publicly traded have fared no better in the market. But again–given that I would not put new money to work here until things make me more confident, neither can I advocate averaging down just to do so and with fingers crossed.
So VMAR remains a HOLD.
All the best,
Chris Temple
Editor/Publisher
Wednesday morning, January 22, 2025
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