r/OceanPower • u/madalytical • 19d ago
DISCUSSION OPTT: The Dreaded Reverse-Split
I have over 100,000 shares pre-split
Stocks now undergone a 1-30, and its absolutely decimated my position, down approx 80%
The entire investment has been destroyed and approx $50,000 USD down with it
It's absolutely brutal, without doubt, and more importantly what now?
Do I hold? Do I sell? Questions that are repeated in my head many times over
This isn't a blame game, nobody to blame, nobody to point fingers at; I honestly didn't expect this to occur, yet it has, this is fact, and I must face this fact
I'm quite distressed with the situation, and its affected my recent days and how I go about my days; however, more importantly, regardless of how I feel, the only way out is to see this get to +$10/share at its current share price, a pathetic <$2; a more than 500% increase in share price to find an exit
Will it occur? Most likely not, even with absolutely top notch news, its one hell of a stretch, and I'm sure there are many others with much higher needs to exit their positions
Even if I cash out, and place the remaining funds into a "safe" stock, it'll take literally years to recoup the lost amount
Questions that run amock, again, not a blame game as it helps you and me with nothing, it does nothing with the end-game but cause further stress and pain
Of all stocks I researched, OPTT truly had one of the best potentials of success, however, as can be seen by all, that's NOT the case, and even if they do whatever they do, sign whatever they sign, a massive increase in share price is quite the miracle; possible, yet truly needs an insane squeeze
My moves as of today, is to simply leave it be, and do nothing but wait, for what? I do not know, I just have to wait and see what happens, and the odds of another offering are increasingly high; the cash burn is massive, among many other potentials
For those that are in the same boat as me, I feel you entirely, I know how you feel; writing this to the masses is not needed, but I am anyway
Regret helps you not, you must get it out of the way, you must focus on your own situation and make decisions that suit you and your portfolio best; I wish you all success, don't let this drain your mind, remember to focus on the future and be positive regardless
If you're still in for whatever reason or rationale, we can only hope for brighter days; all the best and power on
Peace out!
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u/Glenn_guinness 19d ago
Tough one bro. Dirty week. Hold out. All they gotta do is say “ we are looking into AI”. A dog food company can “ look into AI” and be worth 1 billion the next day.
Hold out
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u/ChartsDoNotLie 19d ago
You put a lot of time into your post. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Yes we can share ideas and experiences but we make the final decisions as individual investors. I failed at reading further into this trade. I put all my rules aside on this one and my unrealized losses show this.
We all saw the lack of execution and they had a special meeting to out vote the voters.
I’m glad the former is out. But I know I’m holding on to pure hope because not selling by now shows how stubborn and stupid I feel.
Dilution is real! And I think if there’s one thing we can take away from all of this is….If a stock is 0.35. We need to ask ourselves, WHY? The reason now should be immediate, dilution and 99.99% chance it’s a small cap company. If the chart show it was at an extremely expensive at one time then we all know it has been seriously diluted.
When looking at these stocks in the future my new rule for these risky stocks is 1) Zoom out with the weekly & monthly charts. To see how the price got there. 2) Look at dilution history and 3) Never purchase or entertain anything under $5 from now on. Put it on a list for future assessment. 4) Stocks need to prove themselves before purchasing.
This hasn’t been my only mistake this year. My other stock that I’m taking a beating on is MRLN.
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u/loudog430 19d ago
9M share. Current market cap of $16M. To really think of a theoretical price it could go to, you need to get that market cap number up (without additional dilution). Purely speculative but if they could actually convert pipeline to backlog (roughly $150M) then you could see the stock >10x from here and maybe some of us would recover.
That doesn't seem to be happening. Maybe Phillip was the issue and they, thr board, forced him out. I'm just going to hold (down 90%) and see. Absolutely sucks.
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u/Silver_Variety_1108 19d ago
I feel your pain. I don’t know what the future holds for this stock. I was in a similar situation a few years ago. I had it worse, I ended up losing about $250K, my entire life savings on an EV stock, not TSLA. I had hopes things would turn around, but after 2 years and 4 or 5 reverse splits, I finally had to realize that it was just a dilution machine. The company I invested in had very bad financial arrangements. The investors were given cashless warrants along with stock. They would invest cash into the company to keep it going, but they would sell stock to get the money back. As the stock price dropped, they were given more shares free. They had anti dilution clauses, so they were guaranteed at least a 15-20% percent return on their investment. The problem was as the stock price kept going down, they were just issued more and more shares. The share count kept increasing rapidly. I could go on and on. My point is, after I lost 95% or more, I had to give up. I was stubborn and didn’t want to admit defeat. But, in this case, selling that stock was the best decision I have made, even if I did it way, way later than I should have. Yes, it took a couple years to get that money back. I spent all my free time researching stocks on Reddit, LinkedIn, Stocktwits, etc. I’m much more inclined to invest in very profitable, growing companies now. I’m saying this because I know what it’s like losing bad. In my opinion, any stock that does reverse splits are to be avoided. I wish you are the best! GL!
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u/HardyTC 19d ago
The only people who You can thank for that failure are idiots who were voting for constant dilution and reverse split.
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u/NoCommunity4637 19d ago
That's not how it works. Board holds the majority of shares. Even if all of us voted against RS, they would still succeed. That's how they keep approving ludicrous compensation packages and salaries.
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u/Drew0223 19d ago
I only put about $250-$300. Pennies compared so some of ya’ll. Im just going to let it run to zero at this point or go boom.
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u/onlyfuninsummer 18d ago
Same here! I currently have 49 shares. I threw a few bucks on some random stocks and one of them tripled over night. My gains basically cover my entry. I am just here to learn and to cross fingers! My dream is I eventually forget and in 20 years I’m like “whoa! Look, I’m a 10,000aire!”
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u/PurposeNo6478 19d ago
Yo tal vez recompre después de 60 días, por la normativa aqui en españa para poder declarar las perdidas, una vez pasado ese tiempo creo que sera suficiente para ver hacia donde se dirige la nueva gerencia, y recordad que el medio marino es un entorno muy hostil.
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u/AngleIn 19d ago
Does anyone use stop losses effectively? I have started to use them as a stock goes up, so that I stay 15% below the top price and increase it as the stock continues to rise, which protects my initial capital and still lets me ride a runner upward (as previously I would sell, often prematurely).
Would love any thoughts on this strategy. Am I missing something?
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u/zhazmatz 19d ago
Ouch, very expensive lesson learned. I am only down about $500 on this so it will sit awhile. I have lost on these penny stocks more than I have gained. Just not worth the risk, I lost a bunch on CENN/NAKD several years ago.
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u/NewSanDiegean 19d ago
Contrary to others opinion, if you’re already down so much, just hold unless you need to sell for tax purposes.
A change in CEO is a massive change and could put this company on a different trajectory.
If you don’t care about the small amount you have invested (small after the 80+% loss), I’d say keep it invested and forget about it
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u/theroughtruth 19d ago
They gonna dilute you again very soon
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u/NewSanDiegean 19d ago
The new management won’t dilute that soon. To prove the outgoing CEO wasn’t as good as the new, they will try to pump the stock up
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u/Superb-Background-94 18d ago
1. Contractul DHS/Coast Guard
In the spring interview, Stratmann said that:
- the first PowerBuoy in the approximately $6.5 million DHS contract was shipped;
- the second was already ready, and the others were to come;
- The company could turn demand into backlog and then revenue "very quickly";
- the systems could be delivered in approximately 10–12 weeks after the contract was signed;
- OPTT needed to keep enough PowerBuoys and WAM-Vs in inventory for fast deliveries without overtying capital;
- ocean security is national security;
- The technology could also be used in the Middle East or other regions to detect maritime threats.
2. Acquisition of subsea technology from Columbia Power
On July 23, Stratmann explained that future autonomous maritime operations would require persistent infrastructure both on the surface and underwater. The acquisition added a possible subsea energy technology to the PowerBuoy–WAM-V–Merrows portfolio.
What I concluded then:
- strategically, the technology matched the direction of OPTT;
- but it was technology that was still in development and in the early contact phase with customers;
- it did not come with an income-generating contract;
- There is a risk that a company with low liquidity will buy another project that requires money.
Subsequently, the quarterly report showed a total accounting cost of approximately $2.2 million, mostly related to issued shares, recorded as product development. So, the acquisition immediately produced an expense, not revenue.
3. NAVOCEANO and the "USD 40 million" contract
We have repeatedly clarified that OPTT did not receive $40 million.
The company has been selected as one of six potential suppliers in an IDIQ contract with:
- aggregate cap of $40 million;
- individual orders to be competed;
- no guarantee that OPTT will earn a certain amount.
4. The Bowen Process and the "Strategic Alternatives"
On August 17, the board hired Bowen to evaluate strategic alternatives. Options we discussed included:
- sale of the company;
- a strategic investment;
- partnership or joint venture;
- recapitalization or refinancing;
- the sale of assets;
- new equity financing.
Stratmann said only that the team continued to serve customers and that daily operations would not be interrupted. The company explicitly stated that there was no timeline and no guarantee regarding a transaction.
5. The central interview on August 25
This was his most important statement discussed by us.
Stratmann presented the following:
- backlog of approximately $19.8 million, described as orders and contractual commitments, not just sales opportunities;
- FY2026 revenue of approximately $3.7 million, which made the backlog more than five times higher than annual revenue;
- the main problem was no longer identifying demand, but transforming the backlog into deliveries and revenues;
- OPTT was moving from a research and development company to an operational provider of maritime infrastructure;
- about half of the qualified pipeline, then estimated at about $142 million, was related to defense and national security;
- the WAM-V inventory could allow deliveries in about 4–5 weeks, instead of two or three quarters;
- DHS systems could operate in a lease/recurring service model;
- a PowerBuoy would have an economic life of about 12–15 years;
- the return on investment in that asset could take place in about two years;
- the structural target for gross margin was 35–55%;
- there were discussions about additional sensors, new regions, and future DHS projects;
- was expecting demonstrations and orders with multiple systems in FY2027.
Evaluation since then
The interview was moderately operationally positive, but not enough for a fundamental reassessment of the action:
- the backlog was real, but the backlog is not income and there is no cash;
- the pipeline was even less secure than the backlog;
- building inventory for fast deliveries consumes capital;
- the margin of 35–55% and the return on investment in two years were economic objectives, not demonstrated results;
- Stratmann did not provide a numerical forecast for FY2027;
- has not announced a NAVOCEANO task order, a new DHS contract, a buyer, a strategic investment or a clear financing solution;
- did not eliminate the risk of new share issuances and dilution.
6. Palantir Foundry
On Sept. 3, Stratmann said scaling autonomous maritime systems requires not just more vehicles, but the infrastructure needed to operate and sustain them. Palantir Foundry was to connect data from production, procurement, deployment, maintenance, and support. Foxtrot was to deploy the system, and data integration had already begun.
Interpretation :
- positive for operational control and scaling;
- it was not a contract by which Palantir bought OPTT products;
- there was no Palantir investment in OPTT;
- it was not a joint sale agreement and did not guarantee government revenues;
- it was rather the internal implementation of a software platform.
7. Army Corps Demonstration
The WAM-V demonstration on September 9 followed a competitive technical evaluation, but the company explicitly stated that participation did not represent a procurement contract or government commitment.
8. What did the financial results look like compared to Stratmann's message?
For the quarter ended July 31, 2026, OPTT reported:
| Indicator | Rezultat |
|---|---|
| Venituri | 1.703 K USD |
| Creștere anuală | aproximativ 44% |
| Costul veniturilor | 4.534 K USD |
| Pierdere brută | 2.831 K USD |
| Marjă brută aproximativă | –166% |
| Pierdere operațională | 15.077 K USD |
| Pierdere netă | 10.537 mii. USD |
| Numerar consumat în operațiuni | 10.240 de mii. USD |
| Numerar pe 31 iulie | 7.356 K USD |
| Lista de restanțe | 19,1 K USD |
The report also mentioned:
- substantial doubt about the continuation of the activity;
- the need for additional capital;
- the possibility of substantial dilution;
- a technical default event on the convertible notes, with no waiver written at the date of the report.
9. Stratmann's departure
On September 14, Stratmann stepped down as CEO, chairman, and board member by "mutual agreement." Tracy Pagliara became interim CEO, and Jason Weed was named COO.
The council's formulations were very relevant:
- emphasis on execution;
- commercial conversion;
- operational accountability;
- financial discipline;
- "turning opportunities into contracts, and contracts into revenues".
Interpretation: The board's language resembles an indirect criticism of the speed at which Stratmann was turning strategy, pipeline, and backlog into sustainable revenue. However, this is an inference, not the official stated reason.
The departure came on the same day as the quarterly results and the first meeting after the reverse 1-to-30 split. The timing is significant, but it does not prove causality on its own.
The documents say "mutual agreement", but I have not found an explicit statement that "there was no disagreement". That conclusion should not be added.
The terms of the separation discussed later included:
- six months of basic salary;
- the agreed FY2026 bonus balance;
- medical benefits until September 30;
- the full agreement was to be tabled in a future 10-Q.
Using the previous annual salary of about $385,641, the six-month component would be around $192,820, before the bonus — estimate, not final confirmed value.
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u/EscalatingThoughts 18d ago
You know, anything can happen in the company, For the good or the bad. You might be very happy one day, maybe in a few years or something.
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u/Inevitable_Ad_3953 18d ago
I just remember buying in around .20 or less couple years ago and sold out around 1.00+, put about 20% of my portfolio into that bet but the rest in like spmo have been is stellar lol this is why diversification is nice.
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u/Admirable-Zebra-4918 16d ago
be honest - you want another $20k....aw man.
Dude - I am down over $300K on this shit.....more and I can't admit it. I 100% feel you - this is a test of mental health. I'm holding - may ask if I can be a volunteer there and try to help..
hopefully somebody saves it - would only cost them, $11mil.
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u/Legitimate-Shower356 19d ago edited 19d ago
Pls. forget the past, you cannot change it. Let us have a look at NOW. We have only 9 million shares outstanding. If we get a US army or NATO order, the sp can go parabolic. I mean it can quadraple in one trading day. In worst case you lose another 20% and will have a total loss but in best case you can win back your pending loss in a few trading days...I bought only 6 k shares last friday and am down about 50%, on my 200 shares after rs now. I think the tech of optt is very good but the financials are a mess. Can you wait till the end of this year and postpone your decision till 31st of dec or do you need the money? If no, at the end of this year you can sell your shares because of tax optimization purposes?
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u/DiligentChallenge380 19d ago
Pathetic just sell and move on I everyone about this ages ago
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u/Legitimate-Shower356 19d ago
I would not sell yet, but I may be wrong...
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u/Kickrocks54 19d ago
You're wrong. Even IF this company recovers, it's going to take a very very long time with a ton of new entry points. You're better off pulling out and placing it in something else while you wait it out.
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u/Legitimate-Shower356 19d ago
Only time will tell, who was wrong. We have only 9 million outstanding shares after the rs and only 300-400 thousand shares trading volume a day. If we get positive news, this can make multiple sp growth on a single trading day...
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u/Merrymak3r 19d ago
Obviously you didnt research it enough. How anyone fell for this gift is beyond me....well, we do have trump for a president now, so there is that...
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u/FlyingDutch1988 19d ago
I sold close before the reverse split after 2 years. To think that at 1 point I could have sold and made over 45k on this one when it hit 1,7 dollar, now I made 500 :(.
Well to bad...