If you follow the agriculture space, you have probably come across the chart of Sprout AI. This vertical farming company was trading under the ticker of SPRT but changed it to BYFM back in November 2021.

Let me show you why you probably came across this company:

An epic rise and then an even epic drop after the stock hit highs of $1.05. The stock has recently been ranging between $0.10-$0.13 cents before being halted on April 5th 2022. It has not traded since. Why the halt? Well a cease trade order due to the delay of Q4 2021 interim financial filings as a result of the Company’s failure to file its interim financial statements for the 12 months ended November 30, 2021, the related management’s discussion and analysis and officer certifications.

Sprout AI says they are working expeditiously with the Company’s Interim CFO and accounting team to complete the November 30 Filings, which the Company anticipates shall be done shortly. This came out on April 7th 2022. Almost three weeks later and we are still waiting.

In terms of the large stock fall? Well the company has said that the trading volume and resulting downward pressure that took place in October is not a reflection of the company’s financial health or future business opportunities.

There was also an apparent mix up with the symbol SPRT hence the ticker change:

The company identified potential investor confusion related to the SPRT symbol used in the United States for a NASDQ-listed issuer unrelated to Sprout AI. The company also stated that “NASDAQ: SPRT undertook a substantial short position that resulted in the stock halting trading.” Sprout AI wishes to clarify that Support.com (NASDAQ: SPRT) was halted from trading due to volatility during a merger that took place in September 2021. Sprout AI CEO Chris Bolton previously stated that IIROC “is reviewing the information provided concerning explanations for this unexpected sell-off. . .” The company clarified that it had submitted multiple concerns to IIROC and received an acknowledgment of the submission and regrets any implication that IIROC had validated or given merit to any of the allegations submitted by Sprout AI to IIROC related to any claims previously announced by the company. In addition, in its Oct 28. news release, Sprout AI discussed its request to change its ticker symbol, referencing three symbol choices at the time of listing. The company recognizes that the listing exchanges in Canada and the U.S. do not coordinate symbols in the symbol assignment process. The CSE, therefore, has reserved BYFM as Sprout AI’s new symbol, which is not currently in use in Canada or the U.S.

Whatever the case, shareholders are understandably not happy. And that’s just a nice way of putting things. You take a look at videos on Youtube about Sprout AI and you see comments such as ‘scam’, ‘fraud’, ’empty warehouses’ and ‘lawsuits coming’. On CEO.ca I see one person saying BYFM stands for ‘Burn your f**king money’. Not many people are happy management is out there releasing interviews while the stock is halted.

A little bit about the company: Sprout AI is a vertical farming technology company in the business of planning, designing, manufacturing and/or assembling sustainable and scalable AI-controlled vertical cultivation equipment for indoor vertical farming. The adaptive technology produces an environment with improved growing parameters and early detection of adverse conditions resulting in consistent and repeatable crops, with shorter cultivation cycles independent of geographic climates. The self-contained multi level rolling rack technology increases the cubic cultivation area while mitigating the risk of outside and cross-contaminants.

The latest news regarding sales came out on February 3rd 2022. Sprout AI announced that it received a purchase order for 30 Sprout AI V2 habitats from its nonexclusive distributor TheraCann International. The order is scheduled to be delivered in Q3 2022 and is valued at $450k USD.

Chris Bolton, CEO of Sprout AI, notes, “Sprout AI’s technology was selected by TheraCann for its Client because of its superior product quality in producing nutrient-rich, contaminant-free, straight-to-table produce. Due to the unique nature of Sprout AI being able to manage multiple crops within the same location, TheraCann’s Client, as well as any clients who adopt our technology, will be able to produce specialty crops on demand for their consumers. Our stackable and scalable technology is a great solution for any traditional farming operation looking to embrace the benefits of indoor vertical farming. We are thrilled that TheraCann’s client is so forward-thinking and recognizes the opportunity to take their current traditional outdoor farming operation from seasonal to year-round using our technology. Moreover, we are excited that TheraCann will be planning, designing, implementing and managing this facility together with their client as a “Discovery Center”. This center is positioned close to an urban city center to showcase how indoor vertical farming can help cities secure their food supply chain year-round, receive fresher and longer-lasting customizable produce delivered directly to their grocery store chains while reducing the carbon foot-print of that supply chain.”

A lot of talk about the earnings which are late. Let’s take a look at the unaudited earnings which were filed on December 22nd 2021.

Money coming in from warrants, but cash is bleeding out. It doesn’t look too good. I think the cool thing to say these days is that things look sus.

With financial statements being late, and late for three weeks, it seems like the company is trying to hide something. Plus, you would hope to see management act with much more urgency to keep shareholders happy especially with the stock being halted for so long. We are not seeing any of that and I believe even if earnings do come out and the stock resumes trading, the stock will dump as more shareholders get out, losing faith in management and the company. It will take time for the company’s image to recover. Not many happy shareholder’s and not somewhere I would be putting my money in the agriculture space.