In-space transportation company Momentus executed a reverse stock split on Wednesday, to raise the price of its shares so the company can continue trading on the Nasdaq stock exchange.
Momentus, which is led by former Pentagon policy chief John Rood, was set to execute the reverse stock split at 11:59 p.m. on Aug. 23 at a 1-for-50 ratio. This means that every 50 shares of Momentus will become one share, reducing the number of outstanding shares of common from approximately 98 million shares to approximately 2 million shares. The adjusted shares will begin trading on Thursday.
“The reverse stock split is intended to bring the company into compliance with the minimum bid price requirement for maintaining the listing of its common stock on Nasdaq, and to make the bid price more attractive to a broader group of institutional and retail investors,” the company said in a Wednesday announcement.
Momentus shareholders had previously approved the move. The company’s shares have been largely trading at under $1 since the end of 2022.
The company currently operates two orbital service vehicles (OSVs) in space, and recently announced plans to commercially manufacture satellite buses based on the Vigoride.
Momentus recently celebrated its first quarter with more than $1 million in revenue, but a serious cash crunch puts the company’s future at risk. Net loss during the second quarter was $18.8 million, and Momentus had just $22 million in cash and cash equivalents on hand at the end of the quarter. The company disclosed it doesn’t have enough cash to fund operations for the next year and needs to raise “substantial additional capital,” to continue operations.
Momentus went public two years ago as part of the wave of special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs), after dealing with a number of regulatory issues in the U.S. related to national security concerns. Other space SPACs Spire Global and Astra are also planning reverse stock splits to keep shares trading.