Yesterday, we pointed out a news release by Saint Jean Carbon (SJL.V) may have been worded in a way that was, to be frank, bullshit. That after the stock had run over 400% in a day.
That story got around, and the SJL run appears to have ground to a halt, as the stock is down 13.5% this morning on HEAVY trading volume of 17 million shares, which would indicate there are still people jumping aboard as others bail out.
The news release in question, titled, “Saint Jean Carbon receives order from Panasonic” is written to appear as if it’s an off-take agreement, stating, “The Company is pleased to announce that it has received their first order from Panasonic Corporation to supply graphite anode material to their manufacturing facility. The order consists of two different material specifications.”
No other detail is supplied, which is surprising given the supposed huge nature of the arrangement and the size of the partner.
However, when we looked back at documents SJL has put out subsequently, we found a November news release from 2016, deceptively titled, “Saint Jean Carbon building a recycled high performance lithium-ion battery” (they’re not), that said the company would literally be supplying graphite for the anodes of two car batteries Panasonic is developing.
Not two models of battery, but two actual batteries, one with recycled car battery material and one without, so their ‘large partner’ can see if the recycled battery THEY are developing performs okay.
In short, SJL appears to be shipping a box of graphite. Not a container, not a crate. Make sure to sign the UPS slip, kids.
In addition, as SJL doesn’t currently produce graphite, it appears they’ll likely source their materials from a third party. We’re told by people closer to the CEO that Chinese graphite may be being resupplied as SJL material, though that’s unconfirmed at this time and, really, doesn’t matter since we appear to be talking about enough graphite to make three tennis racquets.
The stock is down 13% on the news, though the market cap of the company remains $71 million, post run, which is absurd.
As always, but here more than ever, do your own due diligence.
— Chris Parry