In a significant move demonstrating the present macroeconomic scenario, NUBURU, Inc. (NYSE American: BURU), a leader in industrial blue laser tech, has expressed its intention to investigate a broad range of strategic options. With the company facing compliance issues due to continual fall in stock prices amid NYSE American’s listing requirements, this decision comes at a crucial point in time.
To steer through these uncertain times, NUBURU has selected Northland Capital Markets as its financial guide. The strategic options under consideration include mergers, sales, divestments, and other impactful financial operations. The aim is to solidify and possibly elevate its market stance. This strategic exploration comes with no established completion date, highlighting NUBURU’s intention for a comprehensive review.
With an inherent ability to deal with challenging metals such as copper and aluminum, NUBURU’s blue laser tech holds immense potential in the AM arena. Both metals hold significant value, aluminum in automotive, and copper for its conductivity, signifying that NUBURU’s technology could prove extremely beneficial for LPBF.
Here’s a bit of background on the firm that NUBURU has partnered with in its financial strategy. Northland Securities was acquired by First National of Nebraska (FNOB) in May 2023. FNOB is an influential interstate bank holding company based in Omaha with over $20 billion in managed assets and more than 6.6 million customers. The firm represents the influence of the Lauritzen family, with Bruce Lauritzen serving as Chairman, as well as the CEO of Lauritzen Corporation, which has a 28% voting share in the bank. While none of that background information is key to predicting the future of NUBURU, it is worthy of keeping track of which financial institutions are involved in the AM sector.
NUBURU’s Future Prospects
This announcement follows a period of financial turbulence for NUBURU, marked by its stock price falling below the NYSE American’s minimum requirement. NUBURU’s financial situation appears to be precarious. The company is operating at a loss with negative net income and negative operating cash flows. Its negative working capital and total equity indicate potential liquidity issues and a deficit of assets over liabilities. The stock price is very low, suggesting that the market has a pessimistic view of the company’s future prospects. To improve its financial health, the company would likely need to increase revenue, reduce expenses, or secure additional financing.
While this writer is often skeptical of small, publicly traded firms, NUBURU had been involved in some interesting projects, including the development of an ultra-fast printer for the Air Force, a novel additive manufacturing (AM) process with Essentium, and a laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) program with GE. One can imagine any number of LPBF systems manufacturers, from Trumpf to EOS to GE, purchasing NUBURU in order to vertically integrate a blue laser supplier. Northland Securities has previously hosted GE affiliate Hyliion, which 3D prints thermal solutions, at an investor conference. Would it be reaching too far to lean toward GE as a possible acquirer for that reason? The conglomerate’s upcoming corporate split is suggesting that the Aerospace division that houses GE Additive could raise a lot of cash. If so, however, it would more likely be a part of the same vertical integration play as GE’s purchase of Concept Laser.
If it weren’t an LPBF systems manufacturer, one might imagine a fellow laser company to purchase NUBURU. Outside of IPG Photonics, nLight has been making steady inroads into the AM market and NUBURU could be complementary. The added benefit is that both are based in the U.S., thus lacking the Russian entanglement suffered by IPG Photonics.
Regardless of the exact future that NUBURU faces, it is far from the only firm in the AM industry to suffer from the current macroeconomic environment. Companies once valued in the billions of dollars are now trading for less than $1 and face the threat of delisting. It may be a financial difficult time for these businesses, but it is also an opportunity to build stronger ones, as the CEOs of several publicly traded 3D printing firms suggested at this year’s Additive Manufacturing Strategies conference.
“Why did the 3D printer go to therapy? Because it had too many layers of unresolved issues!”
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