Arik Kaufman, Co-Founder and CEO, Steakholder Foods (NASDAQ:STKH)
Arik Kaufman is the Co-Founder and CEO of Steakholder Foods (NASDAQ: STKH). In his 2,929 word interview, exclusively in the Wall Street Transcript, Mr. Kaufman relates how his company has essentially created the first Star Trek Replicator.
“The food industry is evolving like other industries. And one thing that is common to the interest of all of us, I think, is feeding the population.
The population is growing.
You have a middle class in certain countries that were non-existent a few years ago.
And someone needs to feed these people with quality alternatives.
And we come into the game by showcasing very advanced hardware that is currently used in other sectors, such as in the pharmaceutical sector, and try to harness these advanced capabilities to create amazing products.
Products that you could not imagine in the past that you can create…in 2021 we were the first company that 3D printed the largest cultured steak ever printed.
Cultured steak, meaning a steak that contained only live cells that were grown outside of the animal.
It was a 100-gram steak.
Since then, we’ve focused mainly on creating the printer and not the biological capabilities.
And today, we have already announced a few agreements that we have here in Israel and some collaborations abroad.
And we are able to mimic the texture and the taste of meat as we know it, but with plant-based ingredients.
Through 3D printing capabilities, we know how to create textures and structures that are very difficult to create at mass scale and at a cost-effective way versus other methods that are out there today.”
Steakholder Foods (NASDAQ: STKH) creates these fake steaks using a proprietary 3-D printing method.
“…the machines that are out there today, they are like machines that have been used for many, many years. And they are very limited with the structures that they create.
If I try to simplify it, think about how the outbound will always be the same as the inbound, meaning that if you have a burger, for instance, the burger inside is exactly the same as it is outside.
The 3D printing enables you to create layering.
You can determine each layer.
You can 3D print each layer by layer, and each layer can be different.
And then through layering, you can create textures and structures that are not out there today.
Assume that you haven’t eaten a whole-cut plant-based steak.
The reason that you haven’t eaten it is because it’s very difficult to create.
So, you can create it like a concept product, like in a certain restaurant, but if you want to create things at mass scale, and that’s the key, you need machines.
You need very advanced machines that will be able to create the same product systematically without any diversification.
And it’s supposed to be at a price and at a cost and at a pace that is competitive.
And I think that’s the main advantage of 3D printing.
If you think about the next level, in the future, you can integrate these premixes, these plant-based blends, with cultured ingredients.
Then you can create more sophisticated products, as we did in the past, but we did it more as a proof of concept to show that we are able to create steaks that are 100% cultured.
In the future, you will be able to do it in a cost-effective way.
You can blend species, for instance, with the printer.
You can blend species with other species, determine exactly how the matrix of the steak will be.
The possibilities are endless and it’s very transparent.
You know exactly what you put into the printer.
In the animal world, there are a lot of diseases, you don’t really know what the animal went through before it was slaughtered.
Here, everything is transparent.
It’s very stable.
And I think that it’s the future.”
Steakholder Foods (NASDAQ: STKH) strives to create and maintain this proprietary advantage.
“Since our establishment, we’ve set the bar as high as possible.
When we started the company, we stated that within two years, we will try to 3D print the first cultured meat steak, 100% cultured, with our own printer.
If you reference the whole cultured meat industry, in 2013, Professor Mark Post created the first cultured burger.
It cost him something like EUR200,000 or EUR300,000.
That’s what they said.
And we tried to set the bar as high as possible.
Within two years, we already have the hardware capabilities and the biological capabilities to create this first whole-cut 3D printing steak.
And I think that the fact that we’ve achieved it — and because we are public we announced that we’ve achieved it — I think that allowed us to downgrade the capabilities to machines that are capable potentially of 3D printing the whole cultured steak as we did, but it allowed us to create a diversified range of machines that already today can create very interesting and very exciting products, but at a price that is at a level that can be sold in grocery stores.
Because to create a concept that is not competitive with other alternatives out there, it only shows capabilities, but it’s not commercial ready.
And then we’ve shifted and focused on creating products that are commercially ready.
And today, our printers, cost-wise, the printer itself, is something that is non-material to players that want to purchase it.
And the output of the printer, the product that it prints, they’re also competitive compared to the other products in this sector.
So, I think that the key point right now is that we’ve shown that we have the technology.
We already engage with different players locally and globally.
We’ve announced an agreement that we have in the UAE.
We announced a collaboration that we have in Taiwan.
We announced a collaboration that we have in Singapore.
And as I said, our main focus right now is to try to engage with an international player.
It can be anywhere in the world, but I’m saying that Europe for sure is interesting because you have countries like the Netherlands, Germany, which are very advanced in all the relevant criteria of alternative proteins.
And our main investor base is in the United States.
So, just that fact alone drives us to engage with a significant player there also.”
Arik Kaufman is completely positive that Steakholder Foods (NASDAQ: STKH) products will succeed.
“I want investors to know that since Steakholder was founded, we have always concentrated on developing unique products that are patent-protected and with an aim to scale these products. Not concept products, but we always wanted to create something that is tangible, that is commercial-ready. And I think that we’ve reached that point after all these years.
A lot of funds were invested in it, a lot of manpower. But we are there. So, I think that the stage that we’ve reached right now is very interesting. It’s like a transformation from research and development to commercialization.
We have a few agreements here in Israel that we’ve announced. We are working very hard to secure international agreements. And I hope that once the products are out there, it will be a very exciting moment for us. And once the customers begin to taste these products and they see that there are no products like these products out there, I hope that the sky’s the limit.”
The entire 2,929 word interview is available exclusively at the Wall Street Transcript.
![Farmer Bros [ticker: FARM] President and CEO John Moore has 30 years of coffee industry experience](https://www.twst.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/John-Moore2.jpg)
John Moore, President and CEO Farmer Bros [ticker: FARM]
“We are a coffee roaster.
We source coffees from all over the world.
We do our roasting in our Portland, Oregon, manufacturing facility.
We’ve been in the coffee business now for more than 100 years.
It was founded in 1912 and encompasses a few different brands, including Farmer Brothers, Boyd’s Coffee, Cain’s, West Coast Coffee and China Mist Tea.
We’re in the midst of what we refer to as a “brand pyramid strategy execution.”
So, we’ve got in our commercial and traditional tier, the Farmer Brothers brand of coffee products, as well as Cain’s. In the premium coffee tier, we have Boyd’s Coffee.
And then we’ll be launching a specialty coffee brand in this next few months and going into the remainder of the fiscal year.”
John Moore has been a coffee industry participant for many years.
“I’ve been in coffee now for about 30 years.
And I think if you go back to the 1980s, you would really see a very different consuming pattern when it comes to where consumers would go to get their coffee.
It was much more driven by the local café, diner or restaurant that was known for serving quality coffee, maybe a donut shop.
Whereas today, if you think about how coffee is available to consumers, it’s been democratized in such a way that you can go to a gas station now or a convenience store.
You can go to a grocery store and there may be an espresso bar inside of a grocery environment serving quality coffee.
You obviously see the coffee aisle in your grocery store.
And whereas it used to be a very small couple of shelves, now it can be an entire row of coffee offerings in a grocery environment.
And then, of course, you have the rise of the quick-service environments where coffee is served now through drive-thrus.
You have specialty chains like Starbucks and Dunkin’ and others.
And you really see the rising tide phenomena in coffee over the last 30 years.
So, you see, yes, the traditional bastions of coffee like the neighborhood diner and the restaurants and the cafes.
Many are still there, but it’s now augmented with these other channels to market and access points for consumers to really experience coffee on their terms and define how it is they want to enjoy their coffee experience.
And without fail, in today’s day and age, they’ll most likely be able to find, within their community or area, coffee in a way that meets them where they want to be.”
Coffee is a way of life for John Moore. His strategy is to nationalize the local Farmer Bros coffee brands.
“Farmer Brothers was the supplier to the cafes, the diners, the mom-and-pop operations where people were getting their coffee from the dawn of the last century all the way through the 1980s and up until today. So, you still find Farmer Brothers being served in all of these types of operations.
I would argue that in the last 10 years, Farmer Brothers has gone through some pretty significant change, and that we’ve really started developing beyond just the areas where these brands were known. Boyd’s Coffee, for example, being an Oregon-based brand initially and then kind of growing through the West Coast. In the last year, we’ve really made a concerted effort to take that to the entire country.
And that’s one of the things we were celebrating in our last shareholder’s call. Boyd’s is now, for us, for the first time in its history, going to be offered nationwide and really pushing that out to consumers where in the East Coast throughout the Midwest they may not have known the Boyd’s brand before. Going forward, they will really have access to that brand.
Similarly, Farmer Brothers, in that more traditional tier, had really been a West Coast-based brand. It grew out of California and then started to find its way East. But because the company grew through a series of acquisitions, these brands were somewhat limited to the areas from which they came.
Other brands that had been acquired over the years were more prevalent in the Northeast or in the Southeast. But again, in the last year, we’ve made a concerted effort to distill down these various different brand expressions into just a few core brands so that for the first time in our history, we’ll be able to leverage our scale and the size of our network more appropriately.
So, I think Farmer Bros (NASDAQ:FARM) has really grown and been dynamic as these trends have developed.
And now what’s exciting for us, for the first time in our history, we’re able to actually bring the brands that we have in a more curated format to the areas all over the country that may not have seen these brands before.”
Farmer Bros has an increasingly profitable future according to John Moore.
“I think investors should know that the company is a solid company right now.
You know, we’ve just reported about $341 million in net sales.
We went through a transformational transaction just over a year ago that really refocused the company in a very healthy way, refocused the balance sheet, put us in a healthy trajectory to get back into our core business again, which has been DSD — direct store delivery — where we manage the relationship.
Our white glove service that we provide to our customers around the country is appreciated.
We have distribution centers around the country, a branch network that is very strong, about 80 branches that are spread from coast to coast.
We have about 250 routes of representatives that are out as the face of the company, providing a service that involves everything from managing inventory, rotating stock, calibrating machines, cleaning machines, making sure that the customers’ coffee program is on solid footing and represents the company.
Essentially, we enable our customers to realize the value and the coffee value proposition we provide.
In doing that, we’re not just a full solutions provider on the product side, but also on the equipment and service side.
We have a technician network that spans the country.
We’re served in all 49 contiguous states, and we’re providing both the equipment, the maintenance of the equipment, and the entire coffee solution set, inclusive of a comprehensive allied goods portfolio that is perfectly synergistic with the coffee day part, offering everything from pancake mix to biscuit mix, gravy, syrups, a wide array of products that are all supportive of that coffee-driven day part and that coffee business.
I think right now, people are excited to see that we’ve had five consecutive quarters of positive trajectory in cash flow generated from our operations.
People are excited to see that our margin structures and gross margin percentages are getting stronger and stronger over consecutive quarters and we’re really focused on the blocking and tackling that is going to push this company forward into the next fiscal year.”
Get the complete picture about coffee company Farmer Bros [ticker:FARM] by reading the entire interview with President and CEO John Moore, exclusively in the Wall Street Transcript.
Psychedelic drug stock picks are growing from the new legal medical mainstream and this professional stock analyst has a few for your 2024/2025 portfolio.
Expert analyst Patrick Trucchio has spent many years researching the psychedelic drug stock sector.
Mr. Trucchio has 17 years of experience on the sell side.
Patrick Trucchio, Managing Director of Equity Research at H.C. Wainwright & Co.
Prior to joining H.C. Wainwright, Mr. Trucchio was a senior equity research analyst at Berenberg Capital Markets (BCM) covering biotechnology and specialty pharmaceutical companies.
Prior to Berenberg Capital Markets, Mr. Trucchio worked at Wells Fargo Securities and BMO Capital Markets.
At Wells Fargo, Mr. Trucchio worked on an Institutional Investor ranked analyst team covering specialty pharmaceutical companies.
“On a formal basis, I’ve been involved in researching psychedelic drug development companies for the last six or so years, and informally, I’ve had a very good understanding of what’s been going on and the potential with psychedelics for, I would say, the last 20 years.
It’s really just an interest that I’ve had in how these mechanisms work.
It is a little more controversial, but how they work in ways that might create windows of opportunity for people to resolve what it is that’s bothering them, particularly if the problem is causing depression or anxiety…
These are companies that are looking to develop treatments through the formal FDA approval process, and would include SPRAVATO — esketamine — though would not include racemic ketamine, which is FDA-approved as an anesthetic.
Notably, ketamine is Schedule 3, and the other psychedelics are all Schedule 1, which means that they’re all technically illegal.
Typically, a novel or repurposed compound goes through the formal FDA approval process.
If the compound is Schedule I but demonstrates a medical use, as did EPIDIOLEX —cannabidiol — in epilepsy, and achieves FDA approval, there will be a time in which the drug sponsor will have to get their specific drug rescheduled by the DEA.
As mentioned, there’s precedent for that with EPIDIOLEX in epilepsy.
We’ll have to see exactly how that goes, but when I am talking about the psychedelics market, I’m talking about the drugs that are going through the formal FDA approval process, including generating preclinical data, as well as Phase I, Phase II, and Phase III data, followed by a New Drug Application submission and approval.
Our research does not cover areas such as psilocybin mushrooms that people are growing.
There are efforts to decriminalize these compounds in states like Oregon.
I don’t really consider that to be the same thing.
Ketamine is available.
It’s an anesthetic and it’s used throughout the United States on an off-label basis for depression at sub-anesthetic doses.
That means the FDA has not approved its use for depression at lower doses.
So, sub-anesthetic doses are administered for people who are looking to get their depression treated.”
Psychedelic drug development has not been a smooth path for researchers or publicly traded drug development companies.
“…In June 2021, we hosted our first neurology conference, and we had so much interest.
It was the first sell-side-organized, big psychedelic-focused conference, to my knowledge, focused on second-generation psychedelics that are being developed for mood disorders, including depression or anxiety, and we had an enormous amount of attendance — more than 300 institutional investors.
The final keynote speaker that year was Rick Doblin, who is one of the founders of MAPS, or what has become Lykos, which is evaluating MDMA-assisted therapy in PTSD.
It was virtual.
We had more than 700 attendees, and that is a very large number for a virtual keynote address.
Around that time, while many of the questions focused on the investment merits of the companies that were emerging in the space, we fielded as many if not more questions around the potential health benefits of psychedelic use.
For example, a lot of questions being asked were like, can I take a psychedelic to make me smarter, or will it help me in my role in some way, will it help me think about things differently? In other words, will it give me an edge in what I’m doing?
These types of questions are outside the scope of our role, which is focused on evaluating the investment merits of the public companies in our coverage universe.
However, I do believe that the questions around health benefits of psychedelics have helped the microdosing trend really take hold.
There’s a couple of important things there.
First is that there’s no evidence that microdosing does anything in any way for any disease.
Second, Mind Medicine ran a study with microdosing for ADHD, and they decided not to go forward with the program.
They didn’t release what that data looked like, but I think we can conclude it didn’t look great.
Also, there was a study out of Imperial College London that looked at microdosing in ADHD specifically.
I don’t know that they’ve released those results, but in conversations that we had, it sounded as if it was more disappointing.”
Psychedelic drug stocks are getting attention from the popular “micro dosing” concept but this may lead to an FDA dead end.
“…The classic psychedelics have activity at a receptor called 5-HT2B, which is present in cardiac tissue and it’s known that this activity can lead to or contribute to valvular heart disease.
So, as we think about what the industry wants to promote, is that helpful in any way?
I don’t think it’s helpful, and none of the companies that we cover are in any way promoting that.
I think it was happening more in pop culture.
You might have had some of these people on podcasts and things like that saying, “I microdose with LSD, and it helps me. I’m so much more productive.”
The interesting thing is with something like ADHD, and for sure with depression and anxiety, there’s a very significant placebo effect.
That’s why it’s hard to get drugs approved in these disease areas, because the FDA wants to see that a drug is actually doing what it’s intended to do.
The short answer is, I think it has an impact just in terms of increasing interest in the space at large.
It’s not really going to have an impact as far as how these drugs are administered because the way these drugs are being researched is actually not as a microdose, but as what’s called a macrodose or a perceptual dose where it’s administered maybe once or twice a year, or four times a year in some cases for the longer-duration psychedelics.
For the shorter duration ones, like DMT, 5-MeO-DMT, where maybe the drug effect lasts like 20 to 45 minutes, possibly those will be administered more frequently, perhaps monthly.
And then you have something like SPRAVATO.
At the start of treatment, patients could be receiving SPRAVATO a few times a week and the intervals lengthen after that, but it’s a bit complicated. None of them are being administered as a microdose.
The FDA also released their guidance for drug makers in June 2023 that detailed the potential for valvular heart disease to be triggered by the 5-HT2B agonism and basically saying that we want to see the research that’s been done.
If the drug is going to be a daily microdose, the FDA would require some sort of cardiotoxicity data to be conducted.
And then for these drugs, it’s different just in terms of how they’re being administered.
The impact is just in terms of increasing the interest overall, and in some ways that’s helpful, in other ways, it may not be as helpful.”
Patrick Trucchio does have his top picks in the psychedelic stock market.
“Focusing on the names that have readouts coming within the next year, if we had to pick three, COMPASS Pathways would be our top pick. That’s because they have two Phase III readouts coming. One is expected in December or January and then one in the middle of 2025.
After COMPASS, GH Research also has a Phase IIb trial reading out on GH001. And then ATAI Life Sciences has a Phase IIb readout coming on BPL-003. Those are near-term, later stage data readouts for those three.
It’s going to be a little bit of time for Cybin and Mind Medicine for their Phase III trials in depression and anxiety before we have data. That’s the only reason I don’t have those two in the top three.”
Get the complete interview with Patrick Trucchio, Managing Director of Equity Research at H.C. Wainwright & Co., exclusively at the Wall Street Transcript.
The CEO at OSE Immunotherapeutics (EPA:OSE) has an important contribution to the development of a cure for cancer.
“The lead compound or the lead program is a therapeutic cancer vaccine, meaning we use the technology of therapeutics vaccination to educate our immune system to recognize and kill cancer cells.
This program is now in Phase III pivotal trial in Europe, the U.S., Canada and the U.K. — there are 14 different countries involved.
We just got the green light from the FDA early this year, and recently we announced approval of the protocol in Europe.
This is maybe the most advanced therapeutic cancer vaccine already having positive data in the previous randomized trial in non-small cell lung cancer.
Non-small cell lung cancer is the second most common cancer.
Unfortunately, it’s 2 million people every year, the highest in terms of mortality.
So, there is a very high medical need, as you probably know, when the patients do not respond or lose response to the classic treatments, either chemotherapy or immunotherapy.
There is no treatment option registered so far.
And so, we are leading the space here where we explore the therapeutics vaccine in monotherapy in comparison to chemotherapy in metastatic patients, so very advanced cancer patients.
This is all for the first program.
The second program is a classic immunotherapy, and the technology is a monoclonal antibody — it’s a very classic technology now in the pharma world.
And we just this summer announced a positive readout, meaning positive efficacy results in inflammatory bowel disease, in particular, in ulcerative colitis.
Here again, it’s a very big market, IBD.
The inflammatory bowel market is a market of $25 billion in the next two or three years.
And just ulcerative colitis, which is one of the two big diseases in this area.
It’s more than 3 million patients every year in the developed countries.
It’s even more than lung cancer patients.
There is a very high medical need.
And so, we are really happy now with this positive result with a new antibody named lusvertikimab, where we were able to demonstrate that this molecule is efficient for patients.
And now, we are thinking of strategy for the next steps, how to move forward in this area where there is a lot of investment appetite from the large pharma companies.”
Nicolas Poirier is the CEO at OSE Immunotherapeutics.
Nicolas Poirier, CEO, OSE Immunotherapeutics
He has been Chief Scientific Director and member of the management team of OSE Immunotherapeutics since 2016.
He started his career at Tcl Pharma in 2009 as a researcher, became Project Manager at Effimune in 2012, then Director of R&D programs in 2014.
In addition, Mr. Poirier is an active member of the Strategic and Scientific Advisory Committee (COSSF) of the French biomedical industry association (MabDesign).
Over the past 15 years, he has authored more than 50 peer-reviewed international scientific publications and holds over 40 issued patents in the field of immunotherapy.
Mr. Poirier and his team have obtained more than 45 million euros in French and European public funding to co-finance OSE Immunotherapeutics’ research and development programs.
He holds a Ph.D. in immunology from the European Center for Transplantation and Immunotherapy Sciences, Nantes, masters’ degrees both in biotechnology from the University of Nantes and pharmacology from the University of Louis Pasteur in Strasbourg, and a certification in global management from INSEAD.
OSE Immunotherapeutics also has created many strategic partnerships with larger pharmaceutical companies.
“AbbVie is really the first pharma in this market.
And we have licensed our patents for a new immunotherapy targeting chronic inflammation — it could be in the gut, in the lung, dermatology, and so on.
And so now this program will move into clinics with AbbVie, and we will pursue this program with them.
It’s a really important deal for us.
It’s a deal over $700 million in terms of upfront, plus future milestones, as well as tiered royalties.
And we received a $48 million upfront for preclinical compounds before entering in patients, which is quite high if we look at the benchmark.
So, this is a really important and strategic partnership for us.
We also have a second partnership with Boehringer Ingelheim, another pharma based in Germany, more for the oncology or cardio metabolic space or disease.
We also reaffirmed this partnership early this year.
We were paid more than EUR38 million during the extension of this partnership.
And they are conducting efficacy studies, Phase Ib studies in solid tumors, particularly in head and neck, as well as in Phase II in cardio-renal-metabolic diseases.
And finally, in this pillar, we also have a third partnership in the U.S., Veloxis, which is a company dedicated to transplant patients.
They already have one product registered in transplantation, and they’re evaluating one of our innovations in Phase II in kidney transplant patients.
In terms of the contracts, these three partnerships together are more than potentially $2 billion.
And we received more than EUR200 million in the last eight years.
So, it’s really significant for us.
It represents 80% of how we are financing the company.
We raised a little bit of equity on the public market, but the majority of our financing came from these large pharma deals.”
The biotech based in France has some interesting management issues because of its history.
“We’re a French company, so we are managed maybe differently from the U.S.
Let’s say we’re not a big biotech, we’re around 70-plus employees, nearly half in research, which illustrates that we are maybe very different from biotechs, where there is initially a big investment in the research phase and then they stop after having one or two compounds or programs and move to the development and clinical stage.
We continue to invest a lot in our research and innovations because we have a very good R&D engine that is highly productive and generates this new partnership with pharma.
And also, because in our DNA we are working for the patients, and we are fully aware that there will not be one or two magic bullets that will cure everybody.
We need to constantly innovate.
So, this is our DNA.
But on the other side, you may understand that we are leading the space on cancer vaccine technology.
We are launching a pivotal registration trial worldwide.
It’s North America and Europe.
It’s a very different culture, very different expertise and people.
And we have to manage a small company with these two extremes, from research to late-stage development.
I don’t know how we are doing that, but it is working quite well.”
Get the complete picture of this cancer vaccine company by reading the entire interview with Nicolas Poirier, the CEO at OSE Immunotherapeutics, exclusively in the Wall Street Transcript.
Mesoblast (NASDAQ:MESO) is an Australian biotech company that the Wall Street Transcript has been keeping in touch with for over 8 years.
Our latest interview with CEO Silviu Itescu, MBBS, FRACP, demonstrates the perseverance and intelligence needed for a novel medical treatment to succeed.
Silviu Itescu, CEO and Managing Director Mesoblast (NASDAQ:MESO)
Dr. Itescu has served on Mesoblast’s board of directors since the company’s founding in 2004, was Executive Director from 2007, and became Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director in 2011.
Prior to founding Mesoblast in 2004, he established an international reputation as a physician scientist in the fields of stem cell biology, autoimmune diseases, organ transplantation, and heart failure.
Dr. Itescu has been a faculty member of Columbia University in New York, and the University of Melbourne and Monash University in Australia.
In 2013, Dr. Itescu received the inaugural Key Innovator Award from the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Culture for his leadership in translational science and clinical medicine in relation to adult stem cell therapy.
The Mesoblast (NASDAQ:MESO) CEO had this to say recently:
“These are off-the-shelf therapeutics that are frozen, cryopreserved at minus 140, and shipped in that way finally to the hospitals.
And we’ve done the appropriate Phase II, Phase III clinical trials that support regulatory approvals across various jurisdictions, including the FDA.
That’s the snapshot of the company.”
The Mesoblast CEO goes on to explain:
“…When you’ve got this mega inflammatory condition that results in inflammatory cytokines that destroy your organs, like your intestinal tract and liver, those same cytokines activate our cells through surface receptors.
And when our cells get activated in this way, they release other factors that turn off the very cells that made those inflammatory cytokines.
So, they’re kind of orchestrators of an anti-inflammatory response that really brings down that severe inflammatory process and protects the end organs.
Ultimately, GVHD is a disease where the bone marrow transplant attacks the body through these cytokines.
And if you can tone down the cytokines in the immune cells of the bone marrow, then you’re protecting the patient. And really, you’re protecting the gut, you’re protecting the liver.
And ultimately, the objective is to change a disease that is fatal 70% or 90% of the time to a disease that can be cured.
That’s what we do.
…We’ve successfully completed the Phase III trial.
We met the primary endpoint.
The FDA now is reviewing the file for a potential approval.
They’ve already inspected our manufacturing site, so the expectation is that we will get a decision on an approval no later than the PDUFA date, perhaps in advance of that.
And we have to prepare and are preparing for a successful commercial launch.
We have built our resources in-house in terms of the Head of Commercial and Medical Affairs and are building out a very small, targeted commercial team that will be in a position to engage with the hospitals that do all these transplants.
Our product is already being used under compassionate care, under expanded access, and we’ve treated several hundred children already in the major centers across the U.S. So we are well known.”
Mesoblast (NASDAQ:MESO) has been developing this drug for years. In a May, 2016 interview, Dr. Itescu stated that:
“The nearest product to commercialization is our orphan drug indication for graft versus host disease, which is a major complication of bone-marrow transplants.
We have a Phase III trial actively recruiting in children, where already in data for 260 children we have shown that we can significantly impact both response rates and, more importantly, survival at day 100.
This is a devastating complication in children, where the mortality rate can approach 80%.
So if you can have an impact on survival, you’ve really got a tremendous drug on your hands.
This Phase III trial is expected to complete recruitment toward the end of this year, and we expect by the end of 2017 to have an application with the FDA for approval.
So that’s the shortest timeline of our products for commercialization.
That same product was already approved very recently in Japan and has been launched in Japan in the last month or so, evidence that a first-world regulatory body has looked favorably on our products and that we’ve received the kind of reimbursement that one would expect for an orphan drug.
That’s pretty exciting for a company in the stem cell space.”
In a March 2019 interview, Mesoblast (NASDAQ:MESO) CEO Silviu Itescu stated that:
“Our first product approved globally is being marketed in Japan as it has been licensed to JCR Pharmaceuticals, which is an orphan drugs specialist in Japan.
The approval was the first fully approved cell therapy product of any type in Japan.
It occurred about two and a half to three years ago after an approval for use in children and adults with steroid-refractory graft versus host disease.
Graft versus host is a disease that is a devastating complication of an allogeneic bone marrow transplant.
It occurs in about 50% of people who get an allogeneic bone marrow transplant, and typically, 90%-plus of people who undergo these transplants have had high-dose chemotherapy for their underlying leukemia.
So the transplants serve to rebuild their bone marrows after chemotherapy.
You can imagine seeking a cure for the underlying leukemia and then getting this devastating complication of graft versus host disease, which has a very high mortality in its most severe forms.
It is a terrible complication.
There is nothing that is approved other than steroids in the first instance.
Also, 50% of people will fail steroids.
After steroids, nothing else is approved anywhere in the world other than our mesenchymal lineage product in Japan.
So we’ve been very pleased that this product was approved.
It has received very good reimbursement.
We believe that since the launch of the product, the adoption rates by clinicians approximates about 50% of our expected addressable market.
So we are very pleased by the uptake and the way it has performed.
We are aware of no safety issues.
It gives us great insight into how we would expect a similar drug to perform once it has launched in the United States.
We will be filing with the FDA for the same product very shortly.
We have been using it now in the United States for several years under an expanded access program, so over 240 children have already received this in the United States.
We have performed a very rigorous Phase III trial that demonstrated similar data to what we had generated in the earlier EAP program.
In the Phase III trial, we were able to establish a very significant improvement in overall response rates at day 28 and a very significant association with improvement in survival at three months and at least through to six months.
So the results that we have achieved clearly demonstrate that this product, if approved, will be a first-line therapy after steroids have failed.
The Japanese experience informs us and gives us great confidence as to how it’s going to perform in the U.S.”
Mesoblast (NASDAQ:MESO) also interviewed with the Wall Street Transcript in 2021 at the tail end of the COVID epidemic. In this interview, CEO Silviu Itescu stated:
“We achieved the pre-specified primary endpoint of Day 28 overall response and achieved a significant outcome around survival benefit in children with steroid-refractory GVHD.
For children under 12, there is no approved therapy.
In these children, mortality rate approaches somewhere between 70% to 90%.
So it’s a real bad disease, a real unmet need.
We’ve demonstrated through the submission process and with a 9-to-1 positive vote by the ODAC panel — there was agreement that we demonstrated both safety and efficacy for these children for whom there is no approved therapy.
Our focus is on demonstrating to a sufficiently high standard to the FDA that if approved, the product maintains lot to lot consistency every time we make it.
Obviously, in the Phase 3 trial, the product demonstrated consistency because the results speak for themselves.
We’ve continued to make the product.
And we have established new assays that I think continue to even further underline that we understand the mechanism of action and that go to the heart of the mechanism that the cells go through in order to improve the outcomes in these steroid-refractory GVHD patients.
And so we think that we will have alignment with the FDA because the potency assays now are very much in line with the disease process, how we think the cells turn off the disease process.
And we think that it’ll allow us to be very confident, and for the agency to be confident, that as the product is hopefully in the marketplace, it will demonstrate that every lot behaves exactly the same way as the lot before.
That’s really what the FDA wants.
They want to see that we’ve got a handle on the mechanism, that we have a handle on the production, that there’s no differences in production from every product that goes out the door.”
“Well, over the next 12 months, we expect to see some pretty substantial inflection points, including first product approval and launch in the U.S. market.
I think we have enough cash to get us through that period.
We’ve got most recently $138 million in cash.
We’re in the process of refinancing and extending our debt facility.
And that will strengthen our balance sheet.
And we expect to enter into several strategic partnerships, which will also, I think, strengthen our balance sheet.
So we’re pretty confident around our cash position.
And as long as we’re judicious in the use of capital, which we are, and invest primarily in the areas that are focused on commercialization — i.e., the commercial footprint and manufacturing inventory, which is what we’re focusing on very much on the first logical product — I think we’re well cashed up at this point.”
Read all the interviews in their entirety with the Mesoblast (NASDAQ:MESO) CEO Silviu Itescu to get an in-depth look at how biotech entrepreneurs develop their cutting edge products and bring them to market globally.
Brookfield Renewable (NYSE:BEPC), Darling Ingredients (NYSE:DAR), and Constellation (NASDAQ:CEG) are three sustainable energy companies potentially powering portfolio upside this year and next.
Billy Hwan, CPA, CFA, Portfolio Manager, Parnassus Value Equity
Billy Hwan, CPA, CFA, is the lead Portfolio Manager of the Parnassus Value Equity strategy and a Senior Analyst.
He is responsible for portfolio management of the firm’s Value Equity strategy and firmwide investment research.
“One is Brookfield Renewable (NYSE:BEPC), which manages a global portfolio of hydro, solar, and wind power generating assets.
They provide solutions for their customers’ desire to reduce their GHG emissions.
Brookfield helps governments and businesses meet their decarbonization goals by offering an alternative to carbon-based power generation.
This company is similar to a REIT — it’s a yield company — so it distributes its dividends from very predictable cash flows.
They sign long-term power purchase agreements with their customers.
Integrating this into how we think about relative value, the company’s stock was affected by rising interest rates and declined after the Federal Reserve hiked rates.
We purchased the stock in the fall of 2023, after the stock price dropped more than 50% from its 2021 peak.
We believe the company [Brookfield Renewable (NYSE:BEPC)] is set to benefit longer term from the growing demand for renewable energy.
It most recently signed a massive agreement with Microsoft worth over $10 billion to expand Microsoft’s renewable power capacity.
That was the largest PPA signed to date, and shows that Brookfield is decisively benefiting from the trend toward more sustainable power generation.”
Anthony Tursich, Portfolio Manager, Calamos Investments
Anthony Tursich, CFA, is a Senior Vice President and Co-Portfolio Manager with Calamos Investments, and has more than 25 years of experience in socially and environmentally responsible investing strategies.
Together with Co-Portfolio Manager Jim Madden, Mr. Tursich leads the firm’s Sustainable Equities Team.
He joined Calamos Investments following its 2021 acquisition of Pearl Impact Capital, LLC, the company he founded in 2018, where he served as Chief Investment Officer and as Portfolio Manager since inception for three ESG-integrated portfolios.
Mr. Tursich’s energy pick is off the beaten path and is described in his exclusive interview in the Wall Street Transcript:
“…There’s a company based just outside of Dallas, Texas, called Darling Ingredients (NYSE:DAR).
This is a company that we think of as an energy company, while S&P and MSCI classify them as a consumer staples company.
What Darling does is they collect and process waste and create value-add products from waste that would otherwise go into landfills or go unused.
What Darling has created in recent years as an output of this waste is renewable diesel fuel that essentially comes from collecting and processing used cooking oil.
This company developed a joint venture with Gulf Coast refiner Valero (NYSE:VLO) to essentially be able to process this feedstock into renewable diesel that can go into existing energy infrastructure.
So, you don’t need a new pipeline to move and blend this with traditional diesel — it can go in the same energy infrastructure, which makes it more desirable, more efficient, and cheaper to blend.
But the real opportunity for Darling and Valero extends beyond just traditional diesel, renewable diesel for trucking and ground transportation.
They’ve developed a plant to create sustainable aviation fuel, which is going to be in increasing demand as airlines start to decarbonize in order to meet the commitments that they made in terms of reducing emissions and complying with the Paris Climate Agreement.
They have one plant that’s operational.
They have another plant that’s being built, and already a contract in place to supply sustainable aviation fuel to JFK Airport in New York and support JetBlue’s sustainable aviation fuel needs.
So, a great opportunity for growth for that company, a great opportunity to increase demand for their feedstock there.
They’re essentially creating more demand, which makes their products higher margin and more profitable for shareholders.
Michel Sznajer, Global Renewables Portfolio Manager, Ecofin
Michel Sznajer, CFA, joined Ecofin in 2016 as Portfolio Manager of the firm’s Global Renewables strategies.
Before joining Ecofin, he was a Partner and Portfolio Manager at Silvaris Capital Management.
Previously, Mr. Sznajer was at Wellington Management Co. as an industrial/infrastructure Analyst and Portfolio Manager.
Prior to that, he was at Goldman Sachs and Indosuez W.I. CARR, covering the telecommunication sectors in Asia. Mr. Sznajer earned a M.Sc. in business and engineering from Brussels University and is a CFA charterholder.
In his exclusive interview with the Wall Street Transcript, Mt. Sznager states: “…Something that is a different profile.
Constellation (NASDAQ:CEG) is a stock that has done really well in the sector, but more broadly in the S&P 500.
Constellation is the largest nuclear electricity producer in the U.S., over 10% of the total electricity generation in the country.
Those hyperscale data center developers are really looking for a substantial amount of electricity generation, and preferably carbon free.
So they have started to approach the nuclear companies to bypass the grid and basically connect directly to the nuclear plants to guarantee the amount of supply, but also 24/7 and without carbon.
You saw a first deal struck between the company called Talen (NASDAQ:TLN) and Amazon for that, at a substantial premium to the electricity price in the market.
Constellation is in negotiation with other hyperscalers, the same way Microsoft has been. And so you see Constellation benefiting from the fact that you have substantial incremental demand from buyers who are much less price sensitive than you and I are as retail electricity consumers.
They’re ready to pay a premium to the prevalent electricity price to guarantee that supply.
That first deal with Talen, if the wholesale floor price is about $43 per megawatt hour for nuclear electricity, they got more than $20 above that, so, high $60s.
The whisper is that future deals will be even higher than that.
And all of that is really incremental return for those nuclear companies — it’s all price and all cash flow, there is no incremental cost for them to generate.
Constellation is a beneficiary of the IRA, because the IRA provided a floor for the price of electricity, the $43 I mentioned.
Before, there wasn’t one, so that was the first very positive step for Constellation.
The second step, more recently, is the fact that there is that incremental demand that is really much less price sensitive that’s adding to the return.
So, you get a company that on its own merit is seeing growth and demand that should grow their earnings about 10% per year, and there might be upside to that from those additional contracts.
From that perspective, we think it’s an interesting carbon-free option in the market.” Brookfield Renewable (NYSE:BEPC), Darling Ingredients (NYSE:DAR), and Constellation (NASDAQ:CEG) are just 3 of the many stock picks for renewable energy upside in US stocks.
Read all the interviews in the Wall Street Transcript ESG & Sustainable Strategies Report to get the complete list.
John R. Hewitt, President and Chief Executive Officer, Matrix Service Company (MTRX)
Matrix Service [NASDAQ:MTRX] is a master class in building a billion dollar business in the United States.
“Over the last 40 years, Matrix expanded its services beyond maintenance and construction of atmospheric flat bottom storage tanks for crude oil and other refined products into refinery maintenance, turnarounds and capital projects that included specialty vessels — non-atmospheric storage tanks — as well as electrical infrastructure work in the Northeast and transmission distribution substation work.
Our move in the early 2000s into specialty vessels expanded our storage brand and leveraged acquired expertise in cryogenics — which is where product is stored in liquid form at extremely low temperatures or under pressure that keeps it a liquid, for example liquefied natural gas — LNG — and various natural gas liquids — NGLs — like ethane and ethylene, propane, butane, ammonia and hydrogen.
Around 2011, we began providing not only the storage components, but all the infrastructure around that storage — the surrounding plant infrastructure.
…When the company went public in the early 1990s, it was only bringing in about $40 million or $50 million in annual revenue and just before the COVID pandemic, we were, on average doing $1.2 billion to $1.4 billion in revenue.”
CEO John R. Hewitt describes how his strategy to focus on the storage and maintenance for the US oil and gas sector has led to high returns for his shareholders.
“We’re sitting on a record backlog right now and a large part of that is some form of LNG storage — either for peak shaving, which is the process of storing LNG at power plants for use during periods of low usage to boost power output during peak demand, or for fuel bunkering as an alternative fuel in high horsepower applications.
We are still seeing a tremendous number of opportunities in our pipeline for LNG-related projects.”
Matrix Service is seeing a burst of activity from the new hydrogen fuel supply chain.
“On top of that, there is a lot of activity with NGLs, principally for export ammonia.
There’s a high demand for ammonia because of its ability to be a hydrogen carrier.
We’re also pretty busy from an upfront engineering standpoint on hydrogen-related projects…
I think hydrogen is going to be part of the energy mix globally in the future.
We’re in the very early stages in the use of hydrogen and the role it’s going to play in our energy mix.
My sense is that its use is going to be primarily around transportation — at least initially — and mixed with natural gas or renewable natural gas for power generation.
That will probably be the initial demand for hydrogen.
It could be shipped as ammonia, it could be used as fuel in heavy highway trucks, trains, fuel cells, maybe for cars.
I think those are the areas hydrogen will play a role initially.
My sense is that, at least probably not in my lifetime, it won’t replace natural gas completely.”
The role of Matrix Service in developing clean energy alternatives is articulated by the CEO John R. Hewitt:
“The vision starts with our purpose.
We happen to be an engineering and construction company, but our purpose is to add value.
We add value by the things that we do and we add value to people around the world that use the energy that we’re able to store and help energy companies transport.
We provide value to our employees, giving them opportunities to take care of their families, to be more educated, to grow with the business.
We provide value to our business partners, to other fabricators, and other contractors.
We provide value to our clients in this whole energy cycle, and certainly to our communities where we work.
And we’re a public company with shareholders, and we have to provide value to them.
To do that, we have to deliver on our services, engineering, construction and maintenance work, with very high quality.
We’ve got to deliver very strong safety performance.
We have to deliver those services on time and on budget, and meet our clients’ expectations.
We have to do that with strong relationships.
That’s the foundation of our organization’s vision.
Long term, we need to continue to grow our business, either organically or through M&A activity, and we’re positioned to do that.
We’ve touched on some of the megatrends that are affecting our markets globally, but certainly supply assurance, both domestically in LNG peak shaving, and energy supply security.
Then, when you think about, for instance, what’s going on between Russia and Ukraine, and in the Middle East, and the ability for the U.S. to be a secure country to provide energy globally, that’s an important place for our clients to be.
We’re able to provide the services to help our clients do that.
The low-carbon energy transition is certainly a megatrend for us and is driving some of the things that we’re doing.
We talked about population growth demand.
We need more energy to improve the quality of life everywhere.
Geopolitical instability brings us back to secure energy supply from the U.S. as well as the global demand for low-cost feedstocks.
The key additives for chemicals that go into everything that we touch, whether it’s clothing, medicines, homes, or computers, those are carbon-based feedstocks.
They have to be processed, stored, and transported.
Our organization plays a role in almost all those areas, so we’re in a great spot.
We’ve got a strong brand, great people, and the right skill sets at the right time.
Our vision is to continue to play a major role in those parts of the global economy.”
John R. Hewitt has been President and Chief Executive Officer at Matrix Service Company since May 2011.
Prior to joining Matrix Service, Mr. Hewitt served as Senior Vice President of Aker Solutions where he was responsible for providing executive oversight on major capital projects in Power and LNG.
He previously served as President, United States Operations, at Aker Solutions E&C US, Inc. from 2007 to 2009 where he was responsible for managing all construction services in North America.
Previous to that, he served as President of Aker Construction Inc. where he had full profit and loss responsibility for a multi-disciplined direct hire industrial construction business operating throughout North America.
Mr. Hewitt has spent his entire career in the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) industry.
Mr. Hewitt earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Finance from Stetson University in 1980 and a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Florida Institute of Technology in 1983.
Mr. Hewitt is a member of the Construction Industry Institute; he has served on various committees including the Implementation Strategy Sub-Committee and Optimizing Project Organizations research committee.
The full interview with John R. Hewitt, CEO of Matrix Service Company, is available exclusively at the Wall Street Transcript.
Dr. Jelena Arsic van Os, CEO, Accsys Technologies PLC
Accsys Technologies PLC CEO Dr. Jelena Arsic van Os has a PhD. in Solid State Chemistry from Radboud University Nijmegen, Netherlands.
Her company participates in one of the largest building supply sectors in the United States and around the world.
“…With our technology, we are able to transform fast-growing wood, guaranteeing its durability and performance for 50 years above the ground and 25 years if it’s in the water or underground.
No other existing wood product today can match this performance.
We are very proud to see Accoya used in many very high-profile projects like Google offices around the world, Wood City in Helsinki, Microsoft, Starbucks and Louis Vuitton shops.
Many architects really prefer us as a solution — for example, Kengo Kuma and Associates or Foster + Partners, BIG from Denmark, etc.
Our two brands, called Accoya and Tricoya, are considered a reference point in the marketplace.
Our products are used in decking, cladding, and joinery — e.g. windows and doors.
We are replacing the use of hardwood, and in that sense are helping to prevent deforestation.
So there is a very strong sustainability story on the back of Accoya.
On one hand you have technology patents, a worldwide presence; on the other hand, you have this very strong sustainability driver which we are very proud of.
The process that we use is called acetylation.
It is essentially soaking wood in vinegar, simply put.
So chemically, we are boosting the naturally occurring acetyls in the wood, making it harder for water to penetrate.
These techniques have existed since 1920.
Accsys was the first company in the world to actually master this technology in order to get a final wood product that maintains superior durability over the period of 50 years that we guarantee.”
The investment moat for Accsys Technologies PLC is this durable wood technology.
“…We own the technology for one of the most durable wood products in the world, which is providing us with significant growth potential in the building and construction industry.
Accoya and Tricoya are sustainable products.
Accsys is a company that is also becoming fundamentally much stronger.
With the peak capex behind us, we will now start to see the progressive benefits of increasing capacity and improved fundamentals.
It is a company that is becoming more efficient.
We are transforming for growth.
And I do believe that investors are going to notice this progressive trend very soon.”
Ketan Mamtora, Building Products Analyst, BMO Capital Markets Equity Research
Ketan Mamtora is Building Products Analyst at BMO Capital Markets Equity Research.
He joined BMO in April 2014 as a research associate covering the North American packaging and forest products sector.
He was promoted to an analyst role in 2016, covering the packaging and forest products sector.
In 2017 and 2018, Mr. Mamtora was named among the “All-America Research Team Rising Stars” by Institutional Investor magazine.
Mr. Mamtora emphasizes the technology trend developed by Accsys Technologies PLC CEO Dr. Jelena Arsic van Os.
“We are seeing increasing use of technology in the way products are made. So that is one. And as that happens, there is improved productivity. There is also less waste, and it just makes a process more efficient.
So that is one on just the production side, but then the other aspect is being able to provide options to consumers in the way they can think about how they want to build a home, which historically in the past didn’t happen all that much.
And you just have to look at the samples and decide based on that.”
One large cap stock that Mr. Mamtora identifies as a prime example of a lumber leader is Louisiana-Pacific (NYSE:LPX).
“Louisiana-Pacific (NYSE:LPX), and I’ve been following that company for over a decade.
The company was historically focused on just commodity oriented strand board.
Think about sheeting of a home.
But over the last few years, they have increasingly focused on the exterior siding business.
That is not a commodity business.
There is brand value and there is a service component.
And what’s unique is, they are using their oriented strand board mills and adding one or two steps to the process to make exterior siding.
And so, they’ve converted some of those mills into a product category which has higher growth rate, but also stable margins over a cycle.
And as they have done that, what they’ve also done is when the commodity markets are stronger and commodity prices are higher — like OSB markets when they were strong in 2021 and 2022 — they’ve also bought back a lot of stock, so Louisiana-Pacific cut its share count by 50% between 2018 and 2022.
And the stock price is higher today than it was back then.
So they have grown the business.
They are in the middle of this transformation.
They’ve also effectively allocated capital, and the investors have rewarded them for what they have done.”
Ketan Mamtora’s analysis leads him to two specific stock picks for 2024 and beyond.
“…The names that I like a lot, include a company called West Fraser (NYSE:WFG).
West Fraser is the largest lumber producer and the largest oriented strand board producer in North America.
Current lumber prices are quite depressed right now, and part of the issue is, in general, housing demand has been weaker this year.
We’ve also had supply growth in lumber over the last few years.
So, a combination of those two have pressured prices.
But if we look at where the stock is trading today — coming back to my earlier point on intrinsic value, we value these companies on normalized EBITDA, normalized margins.
And on that metric, the stock is trading near trough levels.
The stock is trading below 5 times our estimate of mid-cycle EBITDA.
The stock is actually trading below book value.
Usually, those are pretty good markers of attractive valuation for a company like West Fraser.
They have got a very strong balance sheet as well. They’ve got a net cash position. So, it’s a name that I like a lot at these levels.
The other name that I like a lot is Beacon Roofing (NASDAQ:BECN).
Beacon Roofing is the second largest roofing distributor in North America. It’s the largest public roofing distributor.
Roofing end markets tend to be quite stable because the vast majority of demand is tied to non-discretionary repair and remodeling.
If your roof is leaking, you’re going to fix it.
Where the interest rates are 3% or 6% will really not matter.
And the company has also made a lot of improvements over the last couple of years, both operationally, but also in the terms of just the portfolio.”
Julian Francis, President and CEO, Beacon Roofing Supply
Julian Francis serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of Beacon Roofing Supply Inc., a leading distributor of specialty exterior building products. Prior to Beacon, he was the President of the Insulation Business at Owens Corning.
He has created his own strategy for dominating the housing lumber market.
“…We believe we have three competitive advantages.
One is our scale; we are one of the largest companies in the space and leveraging our scale is really important to us.
The second is how we go to market, what we’ve called our OTC network — that’s On-Time and Complete.
It’s a go-to-market model where we network our branches in larger markets, so they don’t operate independently.
We operate as a network in cities like Atlanta, New York, and Chicago and we think that gives us an advantage.
We don’t deliver from the branch that took the order, we look at the best combination of availability of product and service to deliver from the branch that’s best suited to do that.
That’s a very different model, you must have scale to implement that model.
But even if you have scale, not all companies operate that way.
So we think that’s a competitive advantage for us.
And then, the third competitive advantage we believe we have is around specific investments that we’ve made historically.
We believe we lead in digital.
We think we’ve got the leading platform in the exteriors building product space for customers to come in and look at projects, order materials, pay for the materials, and get them delivered.
We’ve seen that grow rapidly.
In our residential business more than one-fifth of our orders are now placed through our online platform and that delivers better margins for us.
One more advantage is our private label brand — that’s been a tremendous asset for us that’s closing in on a billion-dollar business.
It has better margins than the branded labels, and we’ve invested in building TRI-BUILT as a high-quality recognizable brand in the industry.
It’s been a great success for us.”
Get more details on these companies and many more, exclusively in the Wall Street Transcript.
Seth Goldstein, Equity Strategist, Morningstar Research Services
In the ever-evolving landscape of the stock market, few companies have managed to capture the attention of investors quite like Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB).
As a leading player in the lithium market, Albemarle has positioned itself at the forefront of the electric vehicle (EV) revolution, making it a compelling choice for savvy investors.
Seth Goldstein, Equity Strategist, AM Resources, for Morningstar Research Services identifies this stock as one of his current top picks.
Albemarle is a top stock pick due to its pivotal role in the lithium market and its strategic positioning within the burgeoning electric vehicle industry.
This article will delve into the various facets that make Albemarle a standout investment opportunity, from its robust financial performance to its innovative strides in the lithium and renewable energy sectors.
In his interview, exclusively in the Wall Street Transcript, Mr. Goldstein explores Albemarle’s history and market position, discusses his financial analysis, examines the lithium market’s dynamics, and assesses the company’s role in the electric vehicle and renewable energy sectors.
Seth Goldstein’s clear understanding of why Albemarle is a top stock pick and how it can potentially enhance your investment portfolio.
Albemarle Corporation was founded in 1994, but its roots trace back to the 19th century with the establishment of the Albemarle Paper Manufacturing Company.
Over the years, Albemarle has evolved into a global specialty chemicals company, focusing on lithium, bromine, and refining catalysts.
The company’s strategic acquisitions and divestitures have enabled it to concentrate on high-growth areas, particularly in the lithium market.
Albemarle operates in three primary business segments: Lithium, Bromine Specialties, and Catalysts.
The Lithium segment, which is the most significant, caters to the growing demand for lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles and portable electronics.
The Bromine Specialties segment provides flame retardants and other bromine-based products, while the Catalysts segment offers refining solutions for the petrochemical industry.
Albemarle boasts a robust global presence, with operations spanning North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.
The company’s extensive network of production facilities and research centers enables it to meet the diverse needs of its customers worldwide.
In the competitive landscape of the lithium market, Albemarle stands out due to its significant market share and strategic partnerships.
“At a very high level, lithium demand is still growing.
EV sales are still growing.
And then the large utility-scale batteries called energy storage systems, that you pair with, say, solar or wind generation plants, that demand is growing very fast.
So, globally, lithium demand is still growing at a double-digit rate each year.
But there’s also a lot of supply coming online.
So now we’re in a period of a slight oversupply that’s caused prices to fall.
To give you some context on how far prices have fallen in the last 18 months or so in China, at the end of 2022, spot prices were above $80,000 a ton.
Right now, spot prices in China are below $12,000 a ton.
That’s led to a slowing of new lithium supply. But while demand is still growing, it may not grow as fast every year.
So EV sales are still growing, but they’re growing slower than they were a year or two ago.
But ultimately, we do think EV sales will still continue to grow at a solid rate as there’s more affordable EVs offered for the affordable vehicle price points, especially in the U.S. and Europe.
And as we see more chargers built throughout the U.S. and Europe, that will lead to rising EV sales over time at a faster growth rate.
So, we think the lithium demand story is very much intact.
Demand will continue to grow.
What we see is supply tends to come online in waves, where, if you go back to 2021, 2022, when prices were rising and were high, there was a lot of investment in new supply that’s hitting the market last year and this year.
In response to lower prices, we’re likely to see investment slow a lot, which will lead to slower supply growth in 2025 and 2026.
When you add that to solid demand growth, we think that prices are likely at a cyclical bottom right now.
We’re likely to see prices rise over the next couple of years.”
Albemarle’s recent financial performance has been impressive, with consistent revenue growth driven by the increasing demand for lithium.
The company’s revenue for the fiscal year 2022 was $4.2 billion, reflecting a year-over-year growth of 20%.
Net income also saw a substantial increase, reaching $700 million, up from $500 million in the previous year.
Albemarle is one of the largest lithium producers globally, with significant production capacity in the United States, Chile, and Australia.
The company’s current lithium production capacity stands at 85,000 metric tons per year, with plans to expand to 175,000 metric tons by 2025.
This expansion is aimed at meeting the surging demand for lithium.
Albemarle holds a substantial share of the global lithium market, estimated at around 20%.
The company’s integrated supply chain, from mining to processing, ensures a steady supply of high-quality lithium products.
This market share, coupled with strategic partnerships, positions Albemarle as a key player in the lithium industry.
To capitalize on the growing demand for lithium, Albemarle has outlined several strategic initiatives.
These include expanding production capacity, investing in advanced lithium extraction technologies, and forming strategic partnerships with key players in the EV and renewable energy sectors.
These initiatives are expected to enhance Albemarle’s market position and drive long-term growth.
Albemarle has established strategic partnerships with leading EV manufacturers, including Tesla and BMW.
These collaborations enable Albemarle to align its production capabilities with the specific needs of its partners, ensuring a steady supply of lithium products.
Such partnerships also provide Albemarle with valuable insights into the evolving requirements of the EV market.
Other leading equity analysts and top tier portfolio managers echo Seth Goldstein’s bull market call for Albemarle (NYSE:ALB).
Mark Abdalla, CFA, a Senior Equity Research Analyst at John G. Ullman & Associates, called for a purchase of Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) in a September, 2023 interview:
“…Not only does Albemarle have a good secular long-term growth history, it also trades at an attractive valuation. And that’s the combination that we look for here when we identify securities to invest in for our clients.”
Conclusion
In summary, Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) is a top stock pick by several different professional investment advisors due to its strong market position, robust financial performance, and growth potential in the lithium and electric vehicle markets.
The company’s strategic initiatives, innovative capabilities, and commitment to shareholder value further enhance its investment appeal.
Albemarle’s pivotal role in the lithium market and its strategic positioning within the electric vehicle and renewable energy sectors make it a compelling investment opportunity.
The company’s consistent financial performance, dividend payments, and growth prospects underscore its potential to deliver long-term value to shareholders.
For investors seeking exposure to the high-growth lithium and electric vehicle markets, Albemarle is a smart pick.
Read more about Albemarle as well as many other top stock picks for 2024 and beyond, exclusively in the Wall Street Transcript.
Seth Goldstein, Morningstar Research Equity Analyst
Seth Goldstein, CFA, is an Equity Strategist, AM Resources, for Morningstar Research Services.
He covers agriculture, chemicals, lithium, ingredients, and electric vehicle companies on the resources team.
Mr. Goldstein is also the chair of Morningstar’s electric vehicle committee and is a member of Morningstar’s Economic Moat committee.
Before joining Morningstar in 2016, Mr. Goldstein was a senior financial analyst for Oasis Financial, and a financial analyst for Berkshire Hathaway Energy, and a field operations supervisor for the U.S. Census Bureau.
Prior to assuming the equity analyst role in 2017, Mr. Goldstein was an associate equity analyst covering the basic materials sector.
His previous financial analyst roles largely focused on mergers and acquisitions valuation.
Mr. Goldstein holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Ohio University’s Scripps School of Journalism. He also holds a Master of Business Administration, with a concentration in finance, from the University of Iowa’s Tippie College of Business. He also holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.
Seth Goldstein is a big believer in the value of Lithium mines.
“Lithium stocks are all significantly undervalued.
Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) is one of my top stock picks.
Albemarle is a dividend aristocrat and is in the S&P 500.
Albemarle has three of the lowest cost lithium resources already in production and should be well positioned to benefit from a lithium price rebound, as their lithium operations are still profitable, even at the lower prices of today.
Then if we look at agriculture, I like Corteva (NYSE:CTVA) and FMC Corp. (NYSE:FMC) as two of my top picks.
Corteva is probably the highest quality company in agriculture that I cover.
Their seeds business is number two to Bayer (OTCMKTS:BAYRY), and they are continuing to roll out their own proprietary genetically modified soybean seed, which is the first true challenger to Bayer (OTCMKTS:BAYRY) and Bayer-acquired Monsanto.
That sets Corteva as a formidable number two in the genetically modified seed market.
Corteva also has a very strong biological business. They’re the world leader in biologicals and are growing that business, benefiting from increased demand, as we discussed. They’re developing a very nice complementary crop chemicals business as well.
Similarly, FMC is a crop chemicals pure play.
They’re investing heavily in biologicals, but also developing products that have new modes of action to help farmers fight difficult to kill weeds, insects, and fungi.
We think those will be increasingly needed in the coming years.
That should lead their strong pipeline to generate revenue growth and profit growth that’s above industry rates.
Finally, I’d highlight Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) as another top agriculture pick.
They are, most notably, one of the largest potash producers in the world. Fertilizer prices hit record highs in 2022, when the Russia-Ukraine conflict started.
We think they’re at cyclical lows right now, especially potash.
And we think Nutrien, which has some of the lowest cost potash mines in the world, that creates the cost advantage.
They will benefit from higher potash prices in the years to come.”
Stephen Croskrey, CEO, Danimer Scientific, NYSE:DNMR
Stephen E. Croskrey has served as chief executive officer of Danimer Scientific, Inc. (NYSE:DNMR) and as a member of its board of directors since February 2016.
Mr. Croskrey is a business leader with over 30 years of experience in overseeing the strategic direction and operations of companies that manufacture and market a variety of products such as industrial lubricants, fibers, and law-enforcement gear.
From 1999 to 2005, Mr. Croskrey served as the president and chief executive officer of Armor Holdings Products, LLC, a major manufacturer of military, law enforcement, and personnel safety equipment.
Mr. Croskrey has also held senior executive positions at Allied Signal and Mobil Oil.
Mr. Croskrey received an MBA degree from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
He also received a bachelor of science degree in Engineering from the United States Military Academy at West Point where he was also commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Army and served as a company commander, attaining the rank of captain during his six years of active duty.
Stephen Croskrey is delivering a new form of biodegradable plastic to the US food industry.
“We believe the Holy Grail of plastic to be PHA, which is polyhydroxyalkanoate.
PHA occurs in nature and the best way to explain it is what happens with trees.
The tree captures carbon from the sun and the atmosphere.
If a leaf falls from the tree, it dies.
There’s carbon in that leaf. The leaf will degrade and go away.
The process is due to a bacteria that changes the structure of the carbon in the leaf enzymatically to another form of carbon called PHA.
And then the bacteria basically eats the PHA.
It uses the PHA for its own metabolic processes, and so it’s nature’s natural recycling method of carbon.
The bacteria then releases carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere and water, and the leaf itself is gone.
We have replicated that process in an industrial facility through fermentation.
We feed vegetable oil to bacteria to kind of fatten them up.
Then we extract the PHA, because the bacteria store PHA in the cell wall just like humans would store fat.
We extract that PHA and that is the plastic resin.
You see how it will naturally degrade in the environment if it leaks into nature.
What we’re really solving for is plastic waste that escapes into nature.
There’s no other material on the market that can do that other than cellulose, usually in the form of paper.
But most paper in the world today is coated with plastic.
People don’t realize that.
PHA is a tremendous product when you’re concerned about plastic pollution.”
The specific end use cases are developing rapidly.
“Our business isn’t really driven specifically by consumer demand.
It’s really driven by the brand owners reacting to either consumer pressure or industry group pressure or legislative pressure and/or in some cases just wanting to do the right thing.
You know, when we landed Starbucks (NASD:SBUX), they never wanted to do a press release, and that was exactly what they told us: “We’re just doing the right thing, we don’t want to make a big deal of it.”
And so, if you think about what we sell, you know, the consumer isn’t going into a grocery store or a restaurant and trying to buy snack food packaging or a straw.
They want to buy a Pepsi or they want to buy Doritos, and so you don’t really market the materials to the consumer at this stage anyway.
You know, you’re right about the kind of uneducated viewpoint that bamboo is better than plastic and this is plastic, so there’s an education process.
But these big brands have sophisticated R&D teams and they understand polymers and they get what the consumer might not get.
I will tell you that the QSRs get plenty of feedback about paper straws.
Nobody likes paper straws.
I don’t really have to explain that.
When they trial our straw or when they roll it out, they get great feedback from their restaurant managers and up through the chain.
Everybody’s really excited about our version of a straw versus paper.
The fact that it goes away is really all they care about.
The consumer is not coming into the restaurant, pitching a fit because they got a plastic straw.
Especially in a drive-thru situation, they’re happy to have a straw that works.”
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