Comstock (NYSEAMERICAN:LODE) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results

Comstock (NYSEAMERICAN:LODE) posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The company reported ($0.14) earnings per share for the quarter, FiscalAI reports. Comstock had a negative return on equity of 36.39% and a negative net margin of 4,011.56%.The business had revenue of $0.31 million during the quarter.

Here are the key takeaways from Comstock’s conference call:

• Completed oversubscribed financing of $57.5M (?$53M net) and ended Q1 with just over $53M in cash after spending ~$14M on the first facility, with substantially all first-plant capex now complete.
• The industry-scale metals recycling facility in Silver Springs is assembled and being commissioned, with commercial operations expected in June (continuous by July) and management targeting facility breakeven at 20% utilization (corporate breakeven at 50%).
• Management plans further downstream investment — ~$1.5M for glass/product upgrades and a planned ~$10M program to build a 1 ton-per-day metal recovery pilot (R&D) to recover silver, copper and silicon, targeting >90% silver recovery to improve unit economics as throughput scales.
• The company has agreed preliminary terms to sell remaining mining assets and is advancing Sierra Springs monetization (power secured up to 300 MW); a Q3 definitive agreement is expected and management says proceeds would materially simplify the balance sheet, provide meaningful cash and reduce cash spending by up to ~$1.5M annually.
• Q1 operating expenses increased by about $1.7M due to higher headcount, facility and commercialization costs and the company reported a net loss of ?$9.4M, though interest expense declined to zero and interest income rose due to the strong cash position.

Comstock Trading Down 10.9%

Shares of LODE stock traded down $0.36 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $2.94. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,042,467 shares, compared to its average volume of 909,364. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $3.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $3.29. Comstock has a 52 week low of $2.24 and a 52 week high of $4.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 2.06 and a current ratio of 2.06. The company has a market cap of $223.18 million, a PE ratio of -3.06 and a beta of 1.31.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Comstock by 162.1% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 500,171 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,525,000 after acquiring an additional 309,347 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Effects LLC bought a new stake in Comstock in the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its position in Comstock by 133.3% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 7,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. Flax Pond Capital LLC bought a new stake in Comstock in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,610,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC bought a new stake in Comstock in the 4th quarter valued at about $303,000. 7.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Comstock Company Profile

Comstock Mining, Inc (NYSE: LODE) is a growth-oriented mineral exploration and production company focused on the historic Comstock Lode in Virginia City, Nevada. The company’s primary business activities include the development, extraction and sale of gold and silver from its flagship Lucerne project. Comstock leverages modern mining techniques and infrastructure to access high-grade ore bodies in one of North America’s most renowned silver-gold districts.

In addition to its core precious metals operations, Comstock Mining maintains a commercial real estate division centered in Virginia City’s historic district.