Spruce Point Capital Management Announces Investment Opinion: Releases Report and Strong Sell Research Opinion on Uranium Energy Corp. (NYSE American: UEC)
NOTE TO EDITORS: The Following Is an Investment Opinion Issued by
Believes in the Trump Administration’s Energy Policies to Advance Uranium Independence but Does Not Believe UEC Is the
Raises Serious Concerns About the CEO’s Business Relationships Which
Questions UEC’s Asset Quality Given a Lack of Proven and Probable Reserves, Along With Management’s Operational Safety Capabilities Given Past Compliance Citations
Raises Concerns With UEC’s Audit Committee and Financial Control Function Given Minimal Audit Fees Paid and Executive Associations With Two Other Controversial Companies With Alleged Financial and Operational Improprieties
Estimates That UEC’s Shares Face an Immediate 10% Implied Downside To Analysts’ Consensus Price Target and 65%-85% Long-Term Potential Downside Risk Given Its Premium Valuation and Aggressive Expectations Which Are Likely to Disappoint
***
Spruce Point Report Overview
Headquartered in
After conducting a forensic review of
The issues we analyze in our report include the following:
-
UEC is formerly a bulletin board stock from
Vancouver, B.C. Canada whose previous executives and promoters were lawyers, accountants, and financiers that were sanctioned in theU.S. andCanada by securities and federal regulators, with at least two people named in itsSEC filings sent to prison.-
Two lawyers appearing in UEC’s
SEC filings were later reprimanded by theSEC for work involving other public companies associated with market manipulation cases. One lawyer was ultimately sentenced to prison and also hid money to avoid paying restitution to victims. -
One of UEC’s early large investors,
Gordon Brent Pierce , was banned for life from the capital markets by theBritish Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC). -
UEC’s first Chairman
Alan Lindsay did not disclose that his sister was the second largest shareholder of UEC. His sonOliver Barrett Lindsay later served time in prison for a separate securities fraud scheme. -
The Lindsays and other UEC executives promoted
Strategic American Oil Corp. (OTCBB: SGCA), with the largest investor becomingBarry Honig .Mr. Honig is a noted small cap investor who settled with theSEC in a case of market manipulation in 2019. -
D. Bruce Horton served early on UEC’s Audit Committee and as CFO (2006-2007). He had a controversial past as Co-Founder, Director and CFO ofClearly Canadian Beverage Corp. , whereby the Company was sued, and allegations were made thatMr. Horton misled the market. A settlement ofUS$2.5 million was ultimately reached. -
Steve Jewett , also originally on the Audit Committee, failed to disclose a troubling history.Mr. Jewett was barred by the CA institute from auditing any public companies after he mishandled another audit. This raises the possibility that UEC’s books and records have been mishandled from inception.
-
Two lawyers appearing in UEC’s
-
We believe UEC’s CEO
Amir Adnani is highly promotional, and his judgement should be questioned given his documented business and familial connections to unscrupulous actors.- While we admire Mr. Adnani’s long-term devotion to the uranium story, investors should not simply dismiss that his leadership overlapped with many individuals that ran afoul of the law.
-
Mr. Adnani also participated inStrategic American Oil Corp. with the Lindsays and briefly served as a director. PreviousSEC filings disclosed thatMr. Adnani is the son-in-law ofAlan Lindsay . -
Recent interviews indicate that
Mr. Adnani is heavily focused on promoting the nuclear demand story, but we find few details that strengthen the case that he possesses the operational skills to transform UEC into a national leader in the uranium industry.
-
We have concerns about UEC’s asset base and ability to operate at scale to fulfill its ambitions.
- UEC relies on Measured, Indicated, and Inferred Mineral Resources which is not a bankable study and has lower confidence than Proven or Probable reserves.
- UEC is uncharacteristically quiet on firm operating and capital costs that are critical to evaluating mining ventures. Despite a brief period of small extraction sales in the 2012-2015 period, recent sales are from buying and selling commodity concentrate.
-
At best, we think UEC is 5-10 years away from producing meaningfully, if at all, given skilled uranium industry labor shortages and lengthy regulatory processes. High capex costs, environmental remediation obligations and SG&A expense bloat are likely to be satisfied with stock issuance.
-
UEC has historically diluted investors at 15% p.a. and spent just
$12 million in cumulative PP&E capex in 20 years, which further supports our contention that management may not have the institutional know-how to scale the Company with hundreds of millions of growth and sustaining capex projected in future years.
-
UEC has historically diluted investors at 15% p.a. and spent just
-
Operating safely and in compliance with regulations when dealing in nuclear materials should be a paramount factor when evaluating UEC. However, we find recent citations for failure to cease injection into a well after loss of mechanical integrity and failure to keep complete and accurate monitoring records at its
Hobson facility inTexas to be alarming. -
UEC does not give investors any formal guidance, but investors should pay careful attention to UEC’s proxy statement for clues as to management’s focus. If becoming an operating industry leader is a priority, it’s not evident from recent internal goals. The Company is selling investors in its ability to become an integrated uranium explorer and value-added processor. However, when setting the CEO’s goals for 2024 the Company dramatically deemphasized operational focus in favor of balance sheet liquidity. UEC burned through
$106 million in 2024 and raised$176 million which factored heavily towards the CEO hitting his maximum target bonus.
-
UEC’s Board, Audit Committee, and financial control are troubling.
- Management has distractions with other public companies such as Uranium Royalty Corp and GoldMining Inc.
- CEO Adnani has a private company that provides unspecified services to UEC and potentially other companies as well. However, what the specifics of the services are that are beyond the normal scope of his duties to UEC are not disclosed.
-
While we applaud UEC for appointing the accomplished former DOE Secretary
E. Spencer Abraham as Chairman, his role at C3 Energy (now C3.ai) illustrates that his involvement does not guarantee success. -
Audit Committee Chairman
David Kong and Financial ControllerJulia Zhang both concern us given their roles at Silvercorp Metals Inc. and New Pacific Metals Corp., two companies where resource estimation improprieties were alleged to have occurred. - We are troubled by CFO Man’s incomplete biography that fails to disclose a public venture that was abruptly delisted.
- UEC’s audit fee is miniscule relative to uranium peers at 0.05% of total assets and it has rotated through three auditors.
- Insider ownership has fallen dramatically given the heavy dilution and the CEO’s compensation as a percentage of total selling, general and administrative costs has ballooned to 25%, which we view as excessive for one person among an organization with 93 employees.
-
UEC trades at a
$5.4 billion market capitalization and a 42x 2026E revenue multiple, making it the most richly valued company in the industry despite all the shortcomings we’ve identified.-
All nine sell-side analysts rate UEC the equivalent of a “Buy” and the consensus price target is
$10.97 per share. At the current price, this implies immediate 10% downside risk to fair value. - The market believes in UEC’s ability to significantly ramp its production and uranium sales to deliver rapid revenue and EBITDA growth. We believe expectations are simply too high, and at 42x 2026E revenues, the Company must execute flawlessly. Proven industry leaders and operators such as Cameco and Energy Fuels are valued at approximately 14x 2026E revenues.
-
Based on our analysis, even if we assume UEC can meet its revenue targets, apply a 14x multiple, and adjust for growing asset retirement obligations, we see 65% downside risk potential. However, if its revenue multiple were closer to junior exploration and production peers at 5x revenues, we could see upwards of 85% downside risk or a range of
$1.76 to$4.33 per share. We expect UEC to underperform uranium exploration and production industry peers.
-
All nine sell-side analysts rate UEC the equivalent of a “Buy” and the consensus price target is
***
Please note that the items summarized in this press release are expanded upon and supported with data, public filings and records, and images in Spruce Point’s full report. As a reminder, our full report, along with its investment disclaimers, can be downloaded and viewed at www.SprucePointCap.com.
As disclosed, Spruce Point and/or its clients have a short position in
About Spruce Point
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250918237650/en/
doliver@sprucepointcap.com
(914) 999-2019
Source: