Pyro story is still the sameWhile things have been getting a little crazy in the last few days, nothing has changed about the Pyrogenesis story, as many great posters here have mentioned. Bob McWhirter put out an uninformed analysis of the company’s torch sales prospects, and shorters & bashers are attacking in force working to manipulate the stock price down. With how far the shares have run up in the last few months, surely some profit taking is happening as well. It might be difficult to watch, but at the same time this represents an opportunity for those of us who are long-term investors.
We know that Client A’s end goal is to replace all of their burners. As the owner of the patent for the application of plasma torches in Iron ore pelletization furnaces, and the leader in Plasma expertise worldwide, Pyro has an excellent chance to be the recipient of contract(s) for the full replacement of torches in all of Client A’s (and all other Clients’) iron pellet plants. Therefore, regardless of the size of the initial torch deals with the Clients, whether it’s 10, 25, 50 (full plant), 100, or in Client A’s case up to all 500+, it’s going to be a huge vote of confidence by multi-billion dollar companies in Pyro’s high-power torch technology. It signifies to the Iron Pelletization industry that the paradigm shift towards fossil-free pellets is truly happening and that Pyro is right in the center of it.
In the grand scheme of things, while signing what is likely the biggest Iron Ore pellet producer (my bet is still on Vale for Client A) to a torch supply contract will be a major win, it’s only one part of what is shaping up to be a continuous flow of contracts from companies following in Client A’s footsteps.
If you recall, in the Agoracom Q&A from several months back (3.5 months ago?), Peter hinted Pyro was in communication with over 10 companies interested in their torches (“more than he can count on his fingers”). At this point, that number must have doubled/tripled at least. That’s why Peter’s comment in the recent NR “I can confirm that the current status of torch negotiations with various clients anticipate closing more than 1-2 torch deals in well under 3 months, let alone 3-6 months” strikes me as firm confidence that within a far shorter timeframe than the next 3 months they are expecting more than 2 deals signed for torches, and within 6 months many more than 2 deals (e.g. Client A,B,C,D,E,F etc…) . Things are moving at ‘lightning speed’ given the size of the players. Keep in mind that Peter has mentioned in the Agoracom Q&A that Pyro can fabricate torches very quickly (perhaps in as short a time as a month), and installing the torches is a relatively simple, plug & play process, without needing to shut down the furnaces. So any follow-up contracts with Clients (if they don’t replace them all in one shot) would likely only be a few months after the signing of the initial contracts.
And that’s only one application for these high-power torches (others include production of Steel, other Metallurgical industries, Cement, etc.)! In only one ‘division’ of the company (DROSRITE, High-power torches, PUREVAP, AM powders, Waste destruction, Tunneling, etc.) As Pyro has indicated in several news releases, all current and prospective projects remain on track. Their team has done a fantastic job, Peter included. Remember, he has more invested by far than all of us combined and is fully determined to see the company succeed. You can clearly see how much he cares about shareholders by how generous he is in responding to our questions, and in the way he addressed McWhirter’s misinformed comments. For a company like Pyro, with great management and a solid business strategy, I feel comfortable in holding steady and letting the noise of the day-to-day activity pass by. The sky’s the limit for Pyro’s future growth!