Theratechnologies Inc T.TH

I spoke with LaFond this morning

[SPCEO1]

Our new head of IR kindly put together a quick call with Jocelyn, which was appreciated given the negative impact of this news. 

Jocelyn indicated these options are part of their compensation package and he was just selling them to add to his compensation and because the expration data is not far off. He greatly regrets not exercising them when the stock hit its high in 2018 (I told him we can all relate to that, unfortunately). When asked about the timing in light of the potential for additional good phase 1b cancer news coming before the 12/20/22 expiration of these very low cost options, he really did not address that. He noted the trading volume is low so maybe he did not want to be in a position where he exercised them on the last day and then sold into a low volume market? But there are ways to handle that.

Obviously, these are very low cost shares and the 53% tax hit is huge. So, the most bullish response is an executive excercises low cost options, pays his huge taxes out of his pocket and holds onto all of the shares. The next best option for investors like us is to see him only sell the amount of shares needed to cover the tax hit. The worst option is to see all the exercised shares be sold, which is what we have in this case. Offsetting thsi clear negative is Jocelyn has not sold off his 18,000 shares he currently owns outright (not option exposure). He noted he got burned financially in the past exercising previous options and paying the taxes out of his pocket, so once burned twice shy?

So, there is no way around the fact that this does not look great. Only Jocelyn and Christian still own these very low cost options given out many years ago when the company was hanging on by a thread. Jocelyn has 105,000 left and Christian still has 125,000 left. My impression is we will see more filings from Jocelyn in the days to come and we obviously will see all of these options exercised sometime between now and 12/20/22. So, all eyes are now on Christian - if he exercises and sells before any new cancer development, that will be an even worse look than this. If he exercises, pays the taxes out of his own pocket and holds the shares, that would be a very bullish look. 

Right now, however, we have the first insider sale in several years coming right after good news on cancer and no insider buying. It is not a good look. Christian - we await your next move. Paul, Philippe, the board - the lack of buying is now deafening. THTX's main problem with investors is the lack credibility and unless there is some insider buying soon, Elif's job just got even harder to rebuild that lost credibility.

[jfm1330]

I remember a former V-P, Pirazelli, he sold a lot of shares around 2.00$ during the waiting for Ibalizumab phase III results. I think he was V-P pharmaceutical development or something like that, so more on the scientific side of things, and as we know the SP went to 14$ a few months after that. You would be surprised how many of these V-P are not investors at all. They don't do analysis, they

[palinc2000]

He noted he got burned financially in the past exercising previous options and paying the taxes out of his pocket, so once burned twice shy That statement is not supported by his filings on Sedi ever since he becamean insider.....Unless he meant with an other public company but nothing shows up on Sedi....Did he lie to you? I hope not

[palinc2000]

BTW the gain is taxable on only 50% of the capital gain 

[qwerty22]

Is there a reason why you don't want an out of date investor presentation up while insiders are trading? Or is that just a coincidence?

[Wino115]

So, instead of pushing management to do something constructive around building an audience for the share that provides both proper valuation and sufficient liquidity, he says nothing about this major issue and bails.  That is the kind of internal pressure a shareholder would want to see on the management team. And he frets for it over the next 5 months. If these were granted back in the 2016

[jfm1330]

I am sure Lafond says to himself, I don't understand much about this oncology thing, there is no upside in the rest of the company. I missed my opportunity to cash in before. I cannot be invested that much in the company I work for. I need to diversify my assets, and my portfolio is down 15-20% in the last year, so I will take the money right now and that's it. If oncology turns out to be

[PWIB123]

Exactly!  I cannot believe this guy thought that explanation would work for an investor group.  Based on that article of what all he is involved with and responsible for, he would know if any major announcement was looming.  Best I can tell is he is lying.  This may just be the single worst blow to the company we've seen in a while.  Thankfully, the stock is so cheap

[palinc2000]

China deal in the near future ,,,???,?We heard from another poster that Lafond does not understand oncology and yet he has to be involved in the legal documentation related to a China deal.... My faith in a soon to be China deal has almost completely vanished ...Why would Lafond sell if they were in the midst of negotiations for a cash injection by a Chinese bio? Its either no deal or if there is

[Wino115]

An entrepreneur knows that if their company innovates and gets it right, you don't have to bother thinking of your annual compensation and whether it's fair or not.  Nor a modest tax bill to allow you to put even more skin in the game, which any entrepreneur would love. His worry is that of a bureaucrat. Speaking philosophically, there's a large difference between entrepreneurial

[cashworx22]

This post has been removed in accordance with Community Policy

[SS1316]

What an absolute coward selling, I can only hope he'll "truely regret" this decision as well. 

[Trogarzon]

one again what are we dsicussing... mistakes... big mistakes they are making again and again... what do you call someone who does'nt from their mistakes... where I come from you call them stupid... we are discussing some insider selling when we are trying on a daily basis to survive this race to zero... they are taking more time.. always more time to acheive what... we need endorsement from

[palinc2000]

There are still 294 000 options expiring within the next few weeks/months. Will the holders of those options be as quick to sell?

[palinc2000]

I forgot to mention that the 294000 options expiring are all in the money .... at least as of today so they will be all exercised if the Sp does not go back to 36 cents cad    

[PWIB123]

I'm worried about that too, since LaFonde has 105,000 of that total, and he's demonstrated a desire, need, willingness to sell...even though he's waited this entire time until now.  Hopefully the others will simply convert and hold.  I'm guessing these guys at a minimum will liquidate a portion to cover taxes, which will still look bad but be more understandable.  I&

[jeffm34]

This has to be some sort of record. Less than 1000 shares trade for the day on the TSX and less than 7000 on Nasdaq