Meta Materials (NASDAQ:MMAT) stock has fallen by about 80% this year. Insiders are now taking notice, as evidenced by an insider buy from CEO George Palikaras.
On Aug. 16, Palikaras acquired 100,000 shares of MMAT stock at an average price of 23 cents per share. Following the transaction, he now directly owns 1.38 million shares. This was not a major insider purchase, as the transaction was only worth $22,660. Still, this marked Meta Materials’ first insider purchase since August of last year. Palikaras was also responsible for that purchase, acquiring 42,000 shares at an average price of 96 cents apiece.
Meanwhile, Palikaras seems to be the only insider taking advantage of MMAT stock’s 80% decline so far this year. In the past year, insiders have purchased $22,600 worth of shares and sold off $189,820 worth, totaling a net amount of $167,160 of shares sold. Palikaras is the only insider to pick up shares during the past year. His sale shows conviction in the company, although the amount is not overly significant.
CEO George Palikaras Adds 100,000 Shares of MMAT Stock
In the past five years, Meta Materials insiders have purchased $1.01 million worth of shares while selling off $12.39 million worth. That adds up to a net amount of $11.37 million worth of shares sold.
Meta recently reported its second-quarter earnings results, showing a slowdown in several key metrics. For the period, revenue tallied in at $2.03 million, down by about 39% year-over-year (YOY) compared to $3.32 million. Revenue consists of product sales and development revenue. Q2 product sales totaled just $22,907 compared to $334,113 a year ago, while development revenue was $2.00 million, down from $2.98 million. While revenue plunged by nearly 40%, cost of sales actually increased to to $758,618 from $701,283. That resulted in a gross profit of $1.25 million compared to $2.44 million during the same period last year.
Meta’s Q2 loss from operations also totaled a staggering $294.68 million, which was mainly attributed to a $282.17 million goodwill impairment item. The impairment resulted from a “sustained decline” in the company’s market capitalization. Overall, the company reported a basic and diluted loss per share of 65 cents and a net loss of $293.65 million.
Meta Materials itself has taken notice of its year-to-date (YTD) loss, announcing an investigation into allegations of naked short selling of MMAT stock in coordination with ChristianAttar and Warshaw Burstein. Meta announced that ChristianAttar joined the investigation on June 29, but there have been no updates since then.
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On the date of publication, Eddie Pan did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
