AQMS

This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Net Loss: Approximately $4.5 million, or $1.31 per basic and diluted share, for Q2 2026. Total Operating Expenses: Approximately $4.6 million for the quarter, down from approximately $7 million in the prior year period. Plant Operations, R&D, and G&A Expenses: Approximately $2.5 million, compared with approximately $3.3 million in the prior year quarter. Cash and Cash Equivalents: Approximately $4.7 million at the end of the quarter. Working Capital: Approximately $4 million. Cash Used in Operating Activities: Approximately $6.5 million during the first six months of the year. ATM Program Proceeds: Approximately $581,000 raised in Q2 2026, totaling approximately $1.9 million for the first six months of 2026. Allowance for Credit Losses (Lion Energy): Approximately $2.5 million, representing 60% of the approximately $4.2 million gross balance, resulting in a net carrying amount of approximately $1.7 million. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 3 Warning Signs with AQMS. Is AQMS fairly valued? Test your thesis with our free DCF calculator. Release Date: July 30, 2026 For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript. Aqua Metals Inc (NASDAQ:AQMS) has shifted from proving technology to commercial execution, with a clear strategy for the Headwaters ARC project. The phased commercialization strategy for Headwaters reduces execution risk and provides an earlier path to revenue by using commercially proven preprocessing equipment in Phase 1. The company is targeting the underserved LFP battery recycling market, which is projected to grow 15-fold by 2030, positioning it for significant feedstock supply. Aqua Metals Inc (NASDAQ:AQMS) maintains financial discipline, entering the commercial phase debt-free and reducing operating expenses year-over-year. The company is pursuing project-level financing structures, including third-party real estate and staged equipment payments, to minimize dilution and preserve corporate capital. Aqua Metals Inc (NASDAQ:AQMS) reported a net loss of $4.5 million in Q2 2026, though improved from the prior year. The company's cash position is low at $4.7 million, with significant cash used in operations during the first half of 2026. The Headwaters project is still subject to financing, permitting, and commercial agreements, with no final investment decision made yet. The company has increased its allowance for credit losses on the Lion Energy receivable to 60% of the gross balance, indicating potential collection issues. Aqua Metals Inc (NASDAQ:AQMS) has not provided specific unit economics or financial guidance for Phase 1, leaving uncertainty about profitability. Q: How does the phased approach at Headwaters create a path to revenue earlier than a greenfield build, and why is the company starting with LFP? A: Steve Cotton (CEO) explained that the Headwaters facility already exists with approximately 150,000 square feet of industrial infrastructure and 50 acres, eliminating the need to fund a full greenfield construction cycle. Phase 1 uses commercially proven mechanical processing to produce valuable high-spec black mass, aluminum, and copper finds. Phase 2 will add AquaRefining technology to convert black mass into battery-grade lithium carbonate, iron phosphate, and graphite. The LFP focus follows feedstock and demand, with recyclable LFP scrap expected to grow roughly 15-fold by 2030 and Bloomberg NEF projecting 235 GW of US storage capacity by 2035. The site is a short drive from six major LFP gigafactory projects, where processing capacity does not yet exist. Q: What is structurally different about Headwaters compared to Sierra ARC, and does Phase 1 clear the same "build once, build right" gates? A: Steve Cotton (CEO) clarified that the gates have not movedcontracted feedstock, committed offtake, and bankable financing remain conditions for deploying capital at commercial scale. What changed is the structure to satisfy these conditions in sequence. Sierra ARC was a first-of-kind build requiring full capital commitment upfront, which led to a disciplined sale when lithium prices dropped. Headwaters uses commercially proven equipment, third-party real estate structures via Newmark, and staged equipment payments tied to milestones. Phase 1 doesn't bypass the gates; it provides a sequenced path to reach them, converting feedstock discussions into contracts and making Phase 2 project-financeable. Q: How should existing shareholders think about funding Phase 1 across real estate structures, staged equipment terms, and the ATM, and how will the company be funded through a final investment decision? A: Eric West (CFO) stated the company ended Q2 2026 with approximately $4.7 million in cash and $4 million in working capital, with about $48 million remaining on the ATM. The funding strategy prioritizes project-level and asset-backed capital ahead of corporate equity. The three-layer architecture includes: (1) third-party real estate structures like a triple-net lease for land and building, (2) staged equipment payment terms aligned with milestones, and (3) corporate capital reserved for operations with measured ATM use. The company has also submitted state and local economic development packages. Between now and FID, the work is diligence, engineering, and negotiatingnot constructionwith a lower operating cost structure than a year ago. Q: How does Headwaters perform if lithium prices fall back toward last year's lows, and is there genuine domestic demand for Phase 1 products? A: Steve Cotton (CEO) noted that Phase 1 is not primarily a lithium storyit produces black mass, aluminum, and copper finds, with processors generally paid to take in feedstock, making it considerably less sensitive to lithium prices. AquaRefining's cost advantages come from eliminating one-time-use chemicals, reducing waste streams, and a safer, less labor-intensive environment. Aluminum and copper have deep established US offtake channels with strong pricing. Black mass is the exceptionmost produced in the US is currently exported due to insufficient domestic refining capacity, which is precisely the gap Phase 2 is designed to close, representing a demand problem awaiting capacity rather than one needing to be created. Q: What does the 20,000 tons per year capacity at Headwaters mean for the business, and can you provide any sense of Phase 1 unit economics? A: Steve Cotton (CEO) clarified that Phase 1 will install two preprocessing lines at approximately 10,000 tons per year each, totaling 20,000 tons at full Phase 1 configuration. Phase 2 doesn't add tonnage but refines the black mass produced into lithium carbonate, iron phosphate, and graphite. The investment criterion requires Phase 1 to demonstrate positive EBITDA and positive cash flow at the project level with a return on invested capital meeting company criteriathis is an investment criterion, not financial guidance. Phase 1 products price off observable markets, and the variables determining outcomes are commercial (feedstock costs, material mix, recovery rates, product prices) rather than technical. At FID, the company intends to provide capital cost, expected throughput, product mix, and operating costs. Q: How is this a natural evolution from the previous recycling project to preprocessing infrastructure near gigafactories, and what gives confidence this is an underserved supply chain piece? A: Steve Cotton (CEO) explained the strategy centers on the huge underserved opportunity for LFP chemistry batteries near six gigafactories. The approach de-risks Phase 1 by deploying standard equipment for aluminum, copper, and black mass production, then adding AquaRefining focused on lithium without initially worrying about nickel and cobalt. This represents a lower cost of entry, staged approach, positioned in the middle of the market where it's most neededthe country is building gigafactories but not the ability to process materials domestically, preserving capital along the way. Q: What progress has been made on equipment procurement for Phase 1, and what should investors look for? A: Steve Cotton (CEO) stated the company is very close to a decision point on the equipment supplier for Phase 1. The team has seen this equipment operating at scale and would deploy proven technology rather than taking technology risk for collection, preprocessing, and production of initial revenue-generating products. Signing that agreement and moving forward with equipment procurement and deployment at Headwaters is a key next step. Q: What are the near-to-midterm milestones investors should look for? A: Steve Cotton (CEO) outlined several upcoming milestones: final indication of the specific site, the equipment supply agreement, financing of the real estate and tenant improvements (the building can be fitted up quickly), and commercial agreements including feedstock and offtake contracts. The company expects news flow on these items across Q3 and Q4 2026. Q: How should the increased share count over the past five quarters be viewed in the context of funding Phase 1? A: Eric West (CFO) was direct that capital was raised through one of the most difficult stretches the sector has seen, and that decision is why the company can pursue Headwaters at allraising proactively rather than reactively while running the business lean. Going forward, the objective is to fund Phase 1 with as little corporate equity as possible, using project-level and asset-backed capital ahead of corporate equity. The company will not deploy capital into construction ahead of the conditions set and will report For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.

Staged commercialization plan is designed to establish domestic processing capacity for the fast-growing LFP critical minerals processing market RENO, Nev., July 30, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aqua Metals, Inc. (NASDAQ: AQMS), a U.S. critical minerals processing company commercializing lower-cost recovery and refining technologies, today reported financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2026, and provided an update on execution of its phased Headwaters ARC commercialization plan. Strategic Initiatives and Pathway to Revenue Generation “The second quarter marked Aqua Metals’ transition from technology validation to commercial execution,” said Steve Cotton, President and CEO of Aqua Metals. “We believe the next major buildout in the domestic battery supply chain is not another battery factory. It is the processing infrastructure required to recover critical minerals from the manufacturing scrap and end-of-life batteries those factories produce. Headwaters ARC is designed to be that infrastructure. “Our commercialization plan is intentionally phased. Phase 1 is designed to deploy commercially proven preprocessing equipment to recover copper, aluminum and high-grade black mass from segregated LFP battery materials, establishing a pathway to revenue while reducing execution risk. Phase 2 is designed to expand the value we recover from that material, with AquaRefining™ integrated after that base is operating to upcycle black mass into battery-grade lithium carbonate, iron phosphate and graphite, creating the opportunity to capture significantly greater value from the same feedstock. “Every workstream we have advanced, from site diligence and engineering to equipment selection, capital formation and customer engagement, was directed at one objective: reducing execution risk and shortening the path to commercial operations at Headwaters ARC.” Headwaters ARC Commercialization Progress On July 7, 2026, Aqua Metals announced it had advanced to final site-specific diligence and negotiations on a Midwest development opportunity for Headwaters ARC, the Company’s planned commercial battery recycling and critical minerals recovery campus. The opportunity includes an existing industrial facility of approximately 150,000 square feet and approximately 50 or more acres of land, located within a short drive of six major LFP gigafactory projects. The Company expects to announce its selected development path during the current quarter, subject to completion of diligence, negotiations, financing, and customary approvals. During and subsequent to the quarter, Aqua Metals advanced five foundational workstreams supporting the Headwaters ARC commercialization plan: Site and infrastructure: advanced final site-specific diligence, engineering definition, permitting preparation and commercial planning for the Midwest Headwaters ARC opportunity. Processing configuration: progressed the Phase 1 operating configuration and continued evaluating preprocessing equipment partners with multiple commercial systems already operating at industrial scale. The Company expects to announce its selected Phase 1 equipment and strategic processing partner in the near term. Capital formation: advanced project financing, staged equipment financing, third-party real estate structures and economic development opportunities, with Newmark’s Advanced Manufacturing Practice Group engaged as an advisor for Headwaters ARC. Commercial engagement: expanded discussions with prospective feedstock suppliers, logistics partners and offtake counterparties for aluminum and copper fines, high-specification black mass and recovered critical materials. Technology validation: continued operating the Innovation Center and demonstration plant, now with more than 5,000 cumulative operating hours, to validate commercial process flows, support Headwaters ARC engineering and advance battery-grade product development. A Staged Commercial Model Phase 1 is expected to include production of high-specification black mass, aluminum fines and copper fines, while building strategic feedstock and offtake relationships. Phase 1 will utilize commercially proven mechanical preprocessing equipment, with a strategic focus on LFP materials. Phase 2 is expected to expand the economic opportunity and upcycle the black mass to battery-grade lithium carbonate, iron phosphate and graphite utilizing proven AquaRefining™ processes and equipment. Aqua Metals believes this sequence can establish a pathway to revenue and cash flow earlier than a conventional greenfield refinery development, while relying on established equipment to reduce execution risk. Phase 1 and Phase 2 development remains subject to completion of diligence, site acquisition, financing, permitting and customary approvals. Positioned to Address an Underserved LFP Market Aqua Metals believes the rapid expansion of LFP battery manufacturing for stationary energy storage systems and electric vehicles is creating one of the most underserved segments of the North American critical minerals supply chain. Based on the Company’s market analysis, informed by third-party industry research, recyclable LFP manufacturing scrap from major regional cell production is expected to increase approximately 15 times by 2030. Unlike nickel and cobalt-bearing chemistries, LFP materials require an economically efficient, lithium-focused recycling pathway that maximizes value recovery across aluminum, copper, black mass and lithium products. Aqua Metals believes its phased model is designed to address that requirement. Technology Validation and Federal Engagement Aqua Metals’ Innovation Center and demonstration plant at the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center continue to serve as the technical foundation for commercialization, with more than 5,000 cumulative operating hours across extended multi-feedstock campaigns. During the quarter, the Company continued to validate commercial process flows, advance battery-grade lithium carbonate and iron phosphate product development, and support engineering of the proposed Headwaters ARC platform. The Company has demonstrated recovery of battery-grade lithium carbonate from both LFP and NMC feedstocks, with lithium carbonate independently confirmed to battery-grade specifications. In June 2026, Aqua Metals was selected as an industrial partner on a DOE-funded Idaho National Laboratory program evaluating electrochemical alternatives to solvent extraction for nickel and cobalt. The Company does not expect the program to have a material near-term financial impact. Commercial Partnerships The Company’s previously announced commercial partnerships remain active, including the multi-year supply agreement with 6K Energy, the non-binding LOI with Westwin Elements, and multiple memoranda of understanding with strategic industry participants. Aqua Metals believes these relationships, along with additional relationships now under development, will advance toward definitive commercial agreements alongside site control, equipment partner selection and product qualification at Headwaters ARC. Outlook Looking ahead, Aqua Metals’ priorities for the remainder of 2026 are focused on advancing Headwaters ARC toward Phase 1 execution. Near-term milestones include: Completing final diligence and securing long-term site control for the selected location. Finalizing Phase 1 preprocessing equipment partner selection. Advancing feedstock, logistics and offtake agreements. Completing site-specific engineering, construction planning and independent capital cost validation. Advancing capital formation and project financing structures, including economic development incentives, grants and other project support. Advancing permitting and regulatory engagement with local and state agencies. Progressing toward a final investment decision for Phase 1. “Our priorities for the balance of 2026 are specific and measurable,” Cotton added. “Secure the site, select the equipment partner, convert feedstock and offtake discussions into agreements, and complete the capital formation work required to fund Phase 1. We entered this phase debt-free and with the capital discipline that carried us through the downturn, and we intend to deploy capital in step with commercial milestones rather than ahead of them.” Conference Call and Webcast Aqua Metals will host a conference call and webcast to discuss these results at 4:30 p.m. ET on Thursday, July 30, 2026. The live conference call webcast and replay can be accessed from the investor relations section of the Company’s website at https://ir.aquametals.com/. About Aqua Metals Aqua Metals (NASDAQ: AQMS) is commercializing a lower-cost approach to recovering and processing critical minerals in the United States. Its patented AquaRefining™ process is designed to eliminate costly one-time-use chemicals, reduce waste streams and associated disposal costs, and provide a safer working environment than conventional metals processing methods. The Company’s staged commercialization strategy combines established mechanical processing with AquaRefining™ technology. Through its planned Headwaters ARC campus, Aqua Metals intends to recover copper, aluminum and black mass from segregated LFP battery materials using commercially proven equipment, establishing a pathway to revenue through processing before adding a simplified AquaRefining™ process to recover and valorize lithium carbonate and iron phosphate. The planned Headwaters ARC campus is designed to expand over time to process NMC battery materials and other critical mineral feedstocks, leveraging a common processing platform to serve multiple domestic supply chains. Aqua Metals is advancing applications across battery materials, rare earth elements and other critical mineral resources. Its strategy is designed to support advanced U.S. manufacturing, create high-quality domestic jobs, strengthen resilient domestic supply chains, and enable lower-cost production of critical minerals essential to energy storage, electrification, defense and other strategic industries. For more information, visit www.aquametals.com Safe Harbor This press release contains forward-looking statements concerning Aqua Metals, Inc. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, our plans, objectives, expectations and intentions and other statements that contain words such as “expects,” “contemplates,” “anticipates,” “plans,” “intends,” “believes,” “estimates,” “potential,” and variations of such words or similar expressions that convey the uncertainty of future events or outcomes, or that do not relate to historical matters. Those forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the Company's commercialization plan, Headwaters ARC development, site acquisition and control, engineering, permitting, project financing, equipment procurement, feedstock supply, commercial agreements, customer offtake arrangements, expected project milestones, technology performance, anticipated commercial operations, market opportunities and future financial performance, Phase 1 and Phase 2 activities, production of high-specification black mass, aluminum fines and copper fines, AquaRefining™ deployment, recovery of battery-grade lithium carbonate and iron phosphate, future processing of NMC and other lithium-ion battery chemistries, equipment supplier and strategic processing partner selection, capital formation strategies, real estate structures, economic development support, expansion opportunities, pathways to revenue, LFP battery manufacturing growth and anticipated growth in recyclable battery manufacturing scrap. Those forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, including, but not limited to, (1) the risk that we may not be able to acquire the funding necessary to develop Headwaters ARC or to maintain our current level of operations; (2) the risk that we may not complete diligence, secure long-term site control, or negotiate and execute definitive agreements on acceptable terms or at all; (3) the risk that we may not obtain the permits, approvals or project financing necessary to advance Phase 1 or Phase 2; (4) the risk that we may not be able to secure feedstock or offtake agreements or to conclude definitive agreements with our announced commercial partners; and (5) those risks disclosed in the section “Risk Factors” included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on March 31, 2026 and in our subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2026. Aqua Metals cautions readers not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake and specifically disclaims any obligation to update or revise such statements to reflect new circumstances or unanticipated events as they occur, except as required by law. Contacts For Media and Investor Inquiries: [email protected]

Image source: The Motley Fool. May 14, 2026, at 4:30 p.m. ET Chief Executive Officer — Stephen Cotton Chief Financial Officer — Eric West Operator Need a quote from a Motley Fool analyst? Email [email protected] Stephen Cotton: Thank you, Dan, and good afternoon, everyone. I appreciate you joining us for Aqua Metals Fourth Quarter and Full 2025 Earnings Call. Today, I'll walk through what was an active and milestone-filled year for our company, covering how we evolved our technology, what we accomplished on the product side, how our strategic partnerships developed and the financial foundation we built heading into 2026. Eric will then follow with a detailed financial review. Let me start with the overall frame for 2025. It was a year in which discipline and execution went hand-in-hand. We made deliberate adjustments to our commercialization approach as market conditions evolved, cleared important technical hurdles, extended our platform with new strategic initiatives and put the balance sheet in meaningfully better shape than where we started the year. On the technology and product front, I would call 2025 the most expansive year in Aqua Metals' history in terms of what the AquaRefining process demonstrated that it can do. We grew the product portfolio. We raised the bar with product specs and proved the feedstock flexibility of our platform in ways that matter commercially and allow us to address the variability of material, not only in the battery recycling market, but beyond to include other markets like rare earths and undersea mining, for example. One of the most important strategic decisions we made this year was to sharpen the commercial scope of our first ARC facility. With the AquaRefining platform that's capable of producing a broader range of outputs, we made the deliberate decision to simplify the first commercial plant around 2 core feedstock streams, NMC black mass and LFP black mass. From those inputs, our initial commercial focus will be on 3 primary outputs: battery-grade lithium carbonate, nickel, cobalt mixed hydroxide precipitate or MHP, and iron phosphate. We have already successfully produced these materials at our innovation center, which gives us confidence that this is the right first commercial configuration. That decision is expected to reduce execution risk, shorten time to market, lower upfront capital requirements and support attractive unit economics and a stronger payback profile. In short, we are intentionally designing the first commercial ARC to be simpler, faster and more capital efficient to deploy while preserving the flexibility to expand the product slate over time as we scale. We believe that it is the right disciplined approach to commercialization and long-term shareholder value creation. On product quality, our team delivered results that we believe set a new benchmark for the recycling industry. Our lithium carbonate achieved fluorine levels under 30 parts per million, a specification that to our knowledge, places us at or above the quality standard for any recycled lithium source globally. Material meeting this threshold has been produced at meaningful scale and distributed to strategic counterparties for evaluation. The responses have been substantive and encouraging. On the broader product side, we generated product qualification representative volumes of multiple products and advanced those materials through partner qualification processes. We also developed nickel carbonate, producing initial samples calibrated to specific downstream partner requirements, which opens additional product pathways and gives us greater optionality as partner discussions mature. Now an LFP or lithium iron phosphate battery chemistry, which is cobalt and nickel-free, I want to get this attention it deserves because I consider proving that we can economically recycle this type of material is one of the most significant technical achievements in this company's history. We moved from engineering analysis and bench scale work on lithium iron phosphate recycling all the way through to processing an entire metric ton of LFP cathode scrap at our pilot facility. Recovering battery-grade lithium carbonate that was validated by OEM and third-party testing. That is not a lab result. That is demonstration at commercially meaningful scale. And because LFP chemistry is capturing an increasing share of both EV and stationary storage deployments, the ability to handle it gives our platform a decisive competitive advantage in terms of addressable feedstock. We also initiated trials on sodium sulfate regeneration, a process that could allow P-CAM producers to convert a problematic waste stream back into a usable chemical inputs, creating cost and sustainability advantages for our partners. And we extended our alternative feedstock testing to include nickel refinery residue alongside polymetallic nodule materials, rare earth-bearing magnets and e-waste, which underscores the core flexibility built into our electrochemical process. One achievement from 2025 stands out beyond the product and process milestones. We were central to producing the first cathode active material made entirely from recycled nickel sourced within the United States. That material has now entered qualification at a Tier 1 battery manufacturer. This matters not just as a technical accomplishment for Aqua Metals, but as a demonstration that a fully domestic closed-loop battery material supply chain is not a theoretical goal. It is something that can actually be built. As the field of players in this market continues to consolidate, we intend to be at the center of it. On the commercial development side, we advanced our ARC facility design to support a processing range of 10,000 to 60,000 metric tons of black mass input feedstock annually. That flexibility is intentional. It allows us to size the first commercial facility to the specific partner configuration and capital structure we ultimately bring together rather than being locked into a single predetermined scale. We also conducted structured due diligence on several candidate sites for the first commercial ARC, working through factors like feedstock proximity, offtake accessibility, utility infrastructure, permitting pathways and the strategic alignment of potential partners at each location. The process has been thorough, and we are in a good position to move forward with final site selection later this year as the remaining commercial conditions come together. And I want to be direct about the build decision because I think our approach is sometimes misread as a hesitation. In fact, this is exactly the opposite. We are not going to build before we are ready. And what ready means is contracted feedstock, committed offtake and project financing that is genuinely bankable. Our posture is simple: build once, build right and execute from a position of confidence. That approach protects shareholders and gives us the best possible path to a facility that ramps to profitability on a reasonable time line. We also remain actively engaged in diligence with Lion Energy around a transaction structure that we believe could be highly strategic and meaningfully additive to Aqua Metals. If completed, this opportunity would not only provide immediate commercial revenue and extend our reach downstream into branded energy storage systems across portable, residential, commercial, data center and industrial applications, but it would also position Aqua Metals and its shareholders to participate more directly in 2 of the fastest-growing segments of the electrification economy, distributed energy storage and domestic LFP battery manufacturing of cells. Importantly, through Lion's existing relationship with an equity stake in American Battery Factory, or ABF, this transaction would also bring with it a meaningful equity interest in ABF, creating exposure to the emerging U.S. GigaFactory build-out and LFP cell production market. We view this as a compelling strategic fit that could broaden our platform, advance our long-term circularity vision, enhance our commercial relevance and create additional pathways for shareholder value creation. We remain disciplined and thoughtful in our process, and we look forward to updating the market in the near term. Let me now turn to our partnership activity in 2025, which was broad and meaningful. I'll walk through the key relationships because the pattern they reveal is important. With 6K Energy, we formalized a multiyear supply agreement that establishes the commercial terms under which we would deliver battery-grade nickel metal and lithium carbonate into their domestic cathode active material manufacturing operations. This moves the relationship beyond technical collaboration and into a defined commercial framework, positioning Aqua Metals as a main supplier into a domestic CAM production chain. With Westwin Elements, we entered a nonbinding LOI outlining terms for a potential supply of recycled nickel carbonate that would support Westwin's efforts to build a domestic nickel supply chain. What makes this relationship particularly interesting is the downstream implication. We believe that a Westwin Aqua Metals commercial partnership and relationship can help stand up nickel production and refining capability on U.S. soil that simply does not exist at scale today. We also signed 2 MOUs that extend the AquaRefining platform into adjacent critical minerals territory. The first with Impossible Metals explores applying our refining process to material collected responsibly from the seafloor, feedstocks that contain nickel, cobalt, copper, manganese and rare earth elements. The second with Moby Robotics evaluates whether AquaRefining can be applied to polymetallic nodules with the potential to recover true rare earth elements as well. Both extend our platform well beyond battery recycling and into strategic areas of focus on critical minerals in today's world. I want to address the strategic logic here directly. These are not departures from our mission. The chemistry underlying AquaRefining, electrochemical refining of dissolved critical mineral streams is the same whether the feedstock originates from black mass, refinery residue, e-waste or deep sea nodules. The intellectual property travels. What these agreements do is extend our total addressable market and create optionality that a licensing and partnership-oriented business model can monetize without heavy incremental capital. Battery recycling remains our primary commercial path to these adjacencies, add strategic depth. We also continued active industry engagement at our Tahoe Reno-based Innovation Center and demonstration plant throughout the year, hosting the National Battery Conference, automotive OEMs, battery manufacturers, recyclers and upstream material suppliers for facility tours and technical reviews. The consistency of the feedback about the quality of our output and the operational sophistication of our pilot plant continues to build credibility in commercial discussions. And you can see some of that feedback on our blog, the current on our website. On the governance front, we made targeted additions to the Board of Directors, bringing in directors with specific expertise in growth strategy, commercialization and financial markets. These additions reflect where we are in our development, a company that is transitioning from technology validation to commercial execution, and the Board now reflects that stage appropriately. We also completed a CFO transition with Eric West stepping into the role of bringing both deep Aqua Metals institutional knowledge and a fresh financial perspective to this next phase. On intellectual property, the U.S. Patent Office granted allowance of a foundational patent covering key elements of our lithium battery recycling process. This is a significant addition to an already substantial IP estate and reinforces the long-term defensibility of the AquaRefining platform at commercial scale. We also filed a provisional application covering a novel low-cost leaching approach applicable to mined manganese ores and deep sea nodule feedstocks, which is further evidence of the expanding reach of our IP program. As we enter 2026, our priorities are well defined. We are advancing engineering and permitting work to support site selection for our first commercial ARC. We are deepening commercial negotiations with supply, offtake and project financing partners. And we are moving strategic partner qualifications for our lithium carbonate and MHP forward in a deliberate milestone-oriented way. The broader environment for domestic critical minerals has continued to shift in our direction. The policy and geopolitical case for building domestic battery material production capability has never been stronger, and we are increasingly recognized as a technically validated credibly financed player in that space. We have the process, the people, the operating demonstration plant and the strategic relationships to move from validation to commercialization. Now it is about refining that momentum into commercial results, and I am confident in our team's ability to deliver. With that, I will turn it over to Eric for the financial review. Eric, over to you. Eric West: Thanks, Steve. We'll now provide an overview of our full year 2025 financial results and balance sheet position. Given this is our fourth quarter and full year call, I will focus primarily on annual figures while noting fourth quarter specifics where relevant. Let me start with the balance sheet. We ended the year with cash and cash equivalents of approximately $10.8 million. The significant capital raise activity in 2025 is the most important context for understanding our year-end position. In October, we closed a $13 million investment from a leading institutional investor, combined with approximately $7 million raised through our ATM and equity line programs. Our total new capital raised in 2025 was approximately $20 million. This was a proactive raise made from a position of strength and strategic momentum, and it provides us with multiple quarters of operating runway and the resources needed to advance engineering, permitting and site selection work for our first commercial scale AquaRefining facility. I also want to highlight a key balance sheet improvement that I'm particularly proud of. We ended the year with no long-term debt. This is the result of the deliberate financial management decisions made throughout 2025, including the completion of the Sierra ARC asset sale in the second quarter and the associated retirement of the $3 million Summit Building loan. Having fully eliminated our debt, we entered 2026 with a cleaner, more flexible capital structure than we have had in years. Now moving to the income statement. I will cover the full year 2025 results with prior year comparisons where described. Total operating expense for the full year 2025 was approximately $23.3 million compared to approximately $23.8 million for the full year 2024. While total expenses were relatively consistent year-over-year, 2025 included approximately $9.1 million of impairment and loss on the disposal charges, compared to approximately $3.1 million in 2024. These impairment charges are nonroutine and noncash in nature. Excluding these items, underlying operating expenses declined meaningful year-over-year, reflecting the sustained cost discipline we have maintained throughout 2025, including the benefit of workforce reductions implemented in the prior periods while continuing to support our key technical and commercial development programs. We are running a lean, mission-focused operation. General and administrative expenses for the full year were approximately $10.5 million, down from approximately $12 million in the prior year. The decline was driven primarily by lower payroll and related costs following prior year workforce reductions, reduced professional fees and broader overhead efficiencies. For the fourth quarter, specifically G&A came in at approximately $3.8 million. Research and development expense for the full year totaled approximately $1.3 million, reflecting our continued investment in process optimization and product expansion, including lithium carbonate quality improvement, MHP production, nickel carbonate development and LFP processing capability. For the fourth quarter, R&D was approximately $0.4 million. While we maintain disciplined cost controls, we are intentional about funding the technical work that derisks commercialization and advances partner qualification. Every dollar spent in this area has a clear commercial purpose. Our full year 2025 net loss was approximately $22.6 million or negative $15.15 per basic and diluted share compared to a net loss of approximately $24.6 million or negative $38.25 per share for the full year 2024. For the fourth quarter, our net loss was approximately $4.4 million or negative $2.97 per share. These figures reflect the pre-revenue development stage of our business, and they continue to trend in the right direction as our cost structure matures. I want to take a moment on the year-over-year net loss comparison because the 2025 figures also reflect some noncash items that are worth noting for investors evaluating our underlying operating trajectory. Our 2025 results include noncash items associated with warrant liability remeasurement, impairment on disposal of property, plant and equipment and other noncash adjustments similar to prior periods. We are pleased that the core operating cash consumptions continue to trend lower year-over-year, which is a direct reflection of the cost discipline we have discussed on every call this year. Moving to the cash flow statement. Net cash used in operating activities for the full year 2025 was approximately $10.3 million compared to approximately $13.6 million in 2024. This improvement, a reduction of more than 24.8% year-over-year reflects our disciplined overhead management and the lower cost structure we have built over the past 18 months. Investing activities for the year primarily reflect the Sierra ARC building and equipment sale proceeds received in Q2, partially offset by minor fixed asset activity. In December of 2025, we also provided approximately $2.1 million of short-term financing to Lion Energy, which remained outstanding at the year-end as a note receivable. Subsequent to year-end in February 2026, we entered into a nonbinding term sheet contemplating the potential acquisition of Lion Energy and contributed the outstanding note along with an additional $2 million to acquire a subordinated position interest in its senior secured credit facility in connection with our evaluation of the potential transaction. On the financing side, the year was characterized by meaningful capital inflows from our October institutional raise and ongoing ATM and equity line activities, partially offset by debt repayment activity completed earlier in the year. Looking ahead, as Steve outlined, we anticipate a measured increase in cash usage as we ramp engineering, process optimization and site readiness activities in support of our first commercial facility. We will continue to manage our spending with rigorous discipline. Every dollar invested must advance a clear strategic and technical milestone. The focus remains on maintaining adequate liquidity, aligning investment pace with commercialization progress and ensuring we have the financial platform to reach our goals. The balance sheet improvements we achieved in 2025, eliminating debt, raising $20 million in new capital and continuing to reduce our operating cash burn has positioned Aqua Metals to approach 2026 from a place of genuine financial stability. We have the runway we need and we intend to use it wisely. That concludes my prepared remarks. I will now turn the call back to the operator for the question-and-answer session. Operator: [Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from Mickey Legg with The Benchmark Company. Michael Frederick Legg, Jr.: Congrats on another quarter. Just a couple here on the Lion Energy acquisition. Assuming that it does get approved and closes, just what are your main areas of focus near term and some of the most natural areas of synergy you see for Aqua Metals? Stephen Cotton: Yes. Mickey, good question. And yes, so first off, we're really been very deep in due diligence across all the key work streams associated with this acquisition. That's like inclusive of financial, legal, operational and commercial. And that's included everything from auditing the financials to completing a detailed independent market, product assessment across Lion's revenue, generating portable residential, commercial, industrial and data center offerings. So we've had -- the team is spending a lot of time talking about synergies with each other in each other's facilities and working closely through all the discussions. So on the process, it's been very active, very substantive, and we expect to bring it to a conclusion in the near term and update the market accordingly. And in a greater sense, what we see with the synergies is an integrated battery materials and battery energy storage company is much stronger than those that stand on their own. And that's because of the synergies you can get with the circularity with the ingredients that go into the batteries, the production of the batteries, inclusive of the ownership that Lion Energy has in American battery factory with their planned GigaFactory in Tucson, Arizona, and being able to put that all together and expose the shareholder, frankly, to the optionality of having a stock they can buy that is really a combination of energy storage, battery materials and GigaFactory production. It's much how it's done in China. And the one reason that China has been successful is by integrating these solutions and creating those kinds of synergies to reduce costs, increase efficiency and have a better story about the overall solution. So we're really excited about that opportunity to work everything out with Lion Energy and come out swinging is what we think will be the first integrated energy solution provider and battery materials provider in North America. Michael Frederick Legg, Jr.: Great. Okay. Okay. That's very helpful. And then just one more on the acquisition. And I want to understand a little bit better the equity stake it could bring in American Battery Factory, how does that fit in there? Does it just sort of align with your closing remarks there, your ending remarks about fitting into the domestic end-to-end battery ecosystem? Stephen Cotton: Yes. So definitely, the equity stake in American Battery Factory is a huge value creator and a huge synergistic opportunity. But American Battery Factory is planning a first GigaFactory in Tucson, Arizona. They've already secured the land about 270 acres, where we see synergistic opportunities as one of the sites we're considering to deploy our ARC facility at a commercial grade plus Lion Energy having some battery fabrication. So if you can think of like a single location that would have cells being generated, the agreement that we already have with American Battery Factory in an MOU form today, which is that we would take the scrap from that GigaFactory as an input to our recycling facility and get lithium carbonate right back to that GigaFactory. While right in that same area, you've got Lion Energy putting together really innovative battery energy storage products for the various segments of the marketplace I was talking about earlier. So the GigaFactory plays are large plays. And what American Battery Factory is seeking is the final phase of financing to get that GigaFactory started this year -- later this year. And those are hundreds of millions of dollars of investment -- based on project finance, we think our equity position would still be still quite meaningful post financing and a GigaFactory produces a heck of a lot of revenue and a heck of a lot of product that also adds to those synergies. So we really see that as a key aspect of our relationship with Lion Energy and American Battery Factories kind of tying that all together. Operator: I would now like to turn the call back to Dan to facilitate questions that were submitted online. Unknown Attendee: All right. Thank you very much. First question for Steve. Could you give us a site selection update? Where does the process stand? And when can we expect an announcement? Stephen Cotton: Sure, sure. So the biggest gating factors now are really site selection, project structure, lining up the right capital and commercial partners. And as we've already mentioned, we're in active due diligence on 2 specific potential sites, looking at things like feedstock access, logistics, utilities, permitting and of course, the overall economics of the project in that particular type of location. And our goal is to settle on and secure the lead site and then spend the balance of the year making real progress on site-specific FEL2 engineering. And that's really basically the stage where you move from concept into a much more defined and specific plant design down to every nut and bolt for that particular location, cost estimate and the execution plan to begin executing a bond. Unknown Attendee: Excellent. The second question, Steve, is what is the status of the feedstock market? There's been a lot of volatility in battery metal prices. How does that affect your commercial position? Stephen Cotton: Yes, great question. So today, effectively all of the black mass produced in the United States and really North America is being exported offshore, simply because there really aren't yet commercial scale refining options here domestically. And that's exactly the opportunity we're pursuing with the first build of our commercial ARC. The market does demand competitive payables for feedstock, but we believe our lithium AquaRefining process puts us in a very strong position because of its potential CapEx and OpEx advantages. And importantly, we're already working to diversify through both end-of-life batteries and GigaFactory scrap, as I mentioned earlier. And that includes our announced MOU, like I mentioned earlier, with American Battery Factory in Tucson. So we can take end-of-life and beginning of life batteries that didn't make it. And that's about half of the scrap of the overall material is GigaFactory scrap at this point in time. It's also important to note that the overall economics around refining black mass have improved meaningfully over the last year. A number of projects across the industry, which including ours, slowed or paused when lithium carbonate prices fell to around $8,000 a ton in 2024. With pricing now having recovered to roughly the $20,000 plus or minus range per ton, we think that creates a much healthier backdrop. And that's, in turn, a real opportunity for the remaining U.S. players and especially for Aqua Metals given the stage that we're at today. Unknown Attendee: Thanks, Steve. Next one we got is, can you talk about the LFP breakthrough in more detail? Why is it significant? And what does it mean for your business model? Stephen Cotton: Yes, great. As I mentioned in my prepared remarks, the LFP breakthrough is really about our ability to economically recover lithium while also recovering the iron phosphate into a reusable form. And that's really a big deal. LFP does not have nickel or cobalt to support the economics. So you really have to run an efficient process. And that's exactly where our lithium AquaRefining technology stands out. That matters not just for future end-of-life batteries, but for the growing volume of LFP GigaFactory scrap such as American Battery Factory already being generated today and what we expect from American Battery Factory as they come online. As LFP continues to scale across energy storage and EVs, we really think that puts us in a strong position to be a leader in the new LFP batteries. Unknown Attendee: All right. Eric, next one is for you. Can you expand on your liquidity position coming out of 2025? And how long is the current capital -- and how long your current capital supports your operations? Eric West: Yes, definitely happy to expand on that. Point to, we ended the year with $10.8 million of cash, no long-term debt and a lower operating burn. This has put us in a pretty strong position as compared to prior periods. We continue to exercise cost discipline as we continue to progress. And just to add some additional context, the capital raised during 2025 was about $20 million in total, which really helped us to strengthen the balance sheet and put us in a position to fund all of the work that we're doing now. So really that gives us the solid flexibility as we continue to move forward on the overall engineering site selection and our partnerships that we've discussed that really lead us to our first commercial facility. So overall, we feel good about where we are. The focus now is just continuing to be disciplined and making sure that we deploy the capital against the right milestones. Unknown Attendee: All right. A couple more. Steve, you've announced MOUs with Impossible Metals and Moby Robotics for deep sea mineral applications and also an LOI with Westwin Elements. How do these partnerships fit with Aqua Metals core business? And what do they look like commercially? Stephen Cotton: Yes. So at a high level, all of these partnerships are about applying our core AquaRefining platform to new sources of critical minerals and importantly, opening up to a very large high TAM market set access to that, where we can really monetize that capability. So we view them as directionally aligned and not a distraction at all. Whether it's black mass or GigaFactory scrap or primary resources like deep sea nodules or refining intermediates from partners like Westwin, the common thread is our ability to process these complex materials efficiently and with a lower environmental footprint and have access to the TAM of those gigantic markets in addition to battery recycling in our sites. Unknown Attendee: Okay. The last question we have is, Steve, how do you view the ongoing consolidation in the battery recycling industry? And does it create opportunity or risk for Aqua Metals? Stephen Cotton: So we view the consolidation overall as a net positive for Aqua Metals. The reality is that the lithium price collapse that happened in 2024 exposed which models were resilient and which were not. And at the same time, the industry is learning that simply copying China's chemical-intensive hydro approach into North America is really a very tough economic proposition. That's why we built AquaRefining differently from the beginning. And that is inclusive, again, as a reminder of vastly lower chemical intensity and costs, lower waste because we don't produce sodium sulfate waste streams. Whereas the incumbent China hydro process produces more sodium sulfate waste stream than product, we produce 0 sodium sulfate waste stream and don't have all the costs associated with it. And it's a process that we believe is much better suited to North American permitting and operating realities with safe jobs and a much more clean type of an operation without the cost in those waste streams. So as the weaker models fall away, we think that our position does become increasingly and interestingly more differentiated and stronger. Operator: Okay. Thank you. There are no further questions at this time. I'd like to pass the call back over to Steve for any closing remarks. Stephen Cotton: All right. Well, thank you, everybody, for listening in. And for those of you that are reading the transcript in the future, we look forward to continued communicating our updates in the near future as we continue to develop Aqua Metals and the rest of 2026. We're really excited to keep everybody in the loop. Thanks again. Operator: This concludes today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time, and we thank you for your participation. Before you buy stock in Aqua Metals, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Aqua Metals wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $472,852!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,317,207!* Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 984% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 210% for the S&P 500. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of May 27, 2026. This article is a transcript of this conference call produced for The Motley Fool. While we strive for our Foolish Best, there may be errors, omissions, or inaccuracies in this transcript. As with all our articles, The Motley Fool does not assume any responsibility for your use of this content, and we strongly encourage you to do your own research, including listening to the call yourself and reading the company's SEC filings. Please see our Terms and Conditions for additional details, including our Obligatory Capitalized Disclaimers of Liability. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Aqua Metals (AQMS) Q4 2025 Earnings Transcript was originally published by The Motley Fool

Image source: The Motley Fool. Thursday, May 14, 2026 at 12 a.m. ET Chief Executive Officer — Stephen Cotton Chief Financial Officer — Eric West Need a quote from a Motley Fool analyst? Email [email protected] Stephen Cotton: Thank you, Dan. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us. The first quarter of 2026 was an important quarter for Aqua Metals as we continued advancing a commercialization pathway for our AquaRefining platform while also broadening the strategic scope of the business across both critical minerals and energy storage markets. During the quarter, we continued advancing site selection and engineering work for what we intend to be our first commercial lithium battery recycling facility. We are now evaluating a short list of U.S. locations with a focus on feedstock access, logistics, strategic relationships and long-term operating economics. At the same time, we continued refining plant configuration, operating parameters and capital planning so that we are positioned to move quickly as we advance towards commercialization. One thing I want to emphasize is that Aqua enters this next phase from a position of resilience and operational readiness. Over the last 2 years, the battery materials industry went through a very significant downturn. Battery-grade lithium carbonate pricing, which had generally remained above roughly $20,000 per metric tonne fell below the $10,000 per tonne level during portions of 2024 and 2025. Projects across the industry were delayed or canceled and a number of companies in the sector faced restructurings or insolvencies. Throughout that period, Aqua Metals remained disciplined. We preserved capital, protected shareholder value, maintained our core technical capabilities and continued operating and advancing our innovation center and demonstration plant here in Reno. Today, we believe those actions position us differently from many companies that either paused development entirely or significantly scaled back operations during the downturn. At our innovation center, we have now surpassed 5,000 cumulative operating hours across extended multi-feedstock campaigns, which continues to validate both the AquaRefining platform and our pathway to broader commercialization. During the quarter, we achieved several important technical milestones. We successfully produced battery-grade lithium carbonate from multiple recycled feedstocks, including both NMC or nickel manganese cobalt and LFP or lithium iron phosphate materials with independent validation confirming industry-grade specifications from our processes. We also achieved manganese sulfate production purity of approximately 99.8%, demonstrating the broader applicability of AquaRefining across additional critical minerals and battery precursor markets. In parallel, we continued advancing our iron phosphate recovery work from LFP materials, which we believe is increasingly important as LFP adoption continues to accelerate, particularly in stationary energy storage applications. With LFP continuing to grow its share across both electric vehicles and stationary storage applications, we believe our demonstrated ability to recycle it economically strengthens our competitive position and expands our addressable feedstock opportunity in a meaningful way. On the strategic side, we continue pursuing opportunities designed to broaden our participation across the battery and energy storage ecosystem and create additional pathways towards future revenue generation. That includes our previously announced commercial relationships with companies, including 6K Energy, Westwin Elements, Impossible Metals, Mobi Robotics and American Battery Factory. Now let me provide an update regarding Lion Energy. Following detailed diligence, we have determined not to proceed with the acquisition under the structure contemplated in the previously announced non-binding term sheet. We continue to see long-term strategic value in the integration of energy storage solutions with domestic battery materials infrastructure, and we are evaluating alternative strategic structures and pathways that could potentially accomplish those objectives in a more capital-efficient manner. Our approach remains disciplined and focused on protecting shareholder value while maintaining strategic flexibility. Looking ahead through the balance of 2026, our priorities remain clear. Advancing site selection, continuing engineering and technical validation, expanding commercial engagement and evaluating strategic opportunities that can accelerate long-term value creation. We believe AquaRefining has the potential to become an important part of a more domestic, efficient and resilient battery material supply chain in North America. Our process eliminates the waste streams and chemical costs that make traditional recycling uncompetitive in North America. And we have demonstrated battery-grade lithium carbonate at fluorine levels we believe are the best-in-class for any recycled source globally. We believe our cost profile is highly competitive with incumbent processes, both domestically and internationally, and that is the foundation we are building the commercial business on to drive that value creation. As we move forward, we do so with a validated technology platform, growing intellectual property portfolio, operating infrastructure already in place and what we believe is an increasingly favorable backdrop for domestic critical minerals development and battery supply chain localization. With that, I'll turn the call over to Eric for the financial review. Eric West: Thanks, Steve. For the first quarter of 2026, we reported a net loss of approximately $4 million or $1.22 per basic and diluted share compared to a net loss of approximately $8.3 million or $10.27 per basic and diluted share in the first quarter of 2025. The improvement year-over-year was primarily driven by the noncash impairment charges that were recorded in the prior year period and did not repeat in Q1 of 2026. Total operating expenses were approximately $4.1 million for the quarter compared to approximately $8.7 million for the first quarter of 2025. We ended the quarter with approximately $6.8 million in cash and cash equivalents and working capital of approximately $7.5 million. Cash used in operating activities was approximately $3.8 million during the quarter. We continue to manage spend carefully while still supporting the technical, engineering and strategic work that Steve discussed. During the quarter, we raised approximately $1.3 million in net proceeds under our ATM program. As of the quarter ended, approximately $48.6 million remained available underneath the ATM. We continue to evaluate financing alternatives and are focused on maintaining flexibility as we move through the next phase of commercialization and strategic planning. On Lion Energy, during the quarter, we contributed the previously outstanding note balance and advanced an additional $2 million to acquire a subordinated participation interest in Lion Energy's senior secured credit facility. As disclosed in the 10-Q, we recorded a provision for credit losses of approximately $437,000 during the quarter based on our assessment of the exposure and the expected recovery assumptions. Subsequent to quarter end, we elected to not proceed with the acquisition under the structure and terms outlined in the February 11, 2026, non-binding term sheet, but we continue to evaluate alternative structures that may better align with our capital discipline and shareholder value objectives. Overall, our approach remains consistent, preserve capital, stay disciplined with spending and focus our resources on the activities we believe best support commercialization, strategic flexibility and our long-term shareholder value. With that, I'll turn the call back over to the moderator to begin Q&A. Operator: [Operator Instructions] And we have a question from Mickey Legg from Benchmark. Michael Frederick Legg, Jr.: Just got to ask about the Lion Energy transaction. Any additional color you can give us there on what led to the decision not to follow through and just how discussions are going, if they're ongoing at all about potential alternatives and that exposure on the note you have out there. Just any comments on that and how confident you are you can recover that or any alternative plans there? Stephen Cotton: Mickey, thanks for hopping on and asking the question. So yes, so I think we'll do a 2-part answer. I'll answer part of your question. I'll turn it over to Eric to answer the second part. But my part, as we progress through the diligence, it became clear to us that the originally contemplated structure just no longer aligned with our capital discipline, risk profile or shareholder value objectives. We approached the process really thoughtfully and objectively. And ultimately, we concluded that preserving flexibility and protecting the balance sheet for the company was really the right decision. But that said, we do continue to believe that there is a strategic value at this intersection of energy storage systems and domestic battery materials. So the broader thesis has not changed. What did change was our view that the structure that's required to responsibly pursue that opportunity would need to change. So we are evaluating alternatives, and that could potentially allow us to participate in selected assets, technologies, customer relationships or customer channels in a much more capital-efficient and risk-balanced manner. But we're not -- excuse me, we are going to remain disciplined, and we're not interested in pursuing growth really at any cost, and we are interested in applying that discipline. I'll let Eric answer the second half of your question. Eric West: Yes. Thanks for the question, Mickey. So at the quarter end, our total exposure associated with the Lion Energy financing activities was approximately $4.1 million. Given the evolving situation and the prudent accounting standards, we recorded a partial reserve during the quarter, reflecting the increased uncertainty at this time. It's really driven by GAAP principles. So importantly, our position remains as a senior secured second to their current ABL who has first position. We're actively developing or actively monitoring developments and evaluating a range of potential recovery outcomes tied to the collateral base and of course, any future restructuring scenarios. I'd also add that throughout this process, we remain very focused on downside protection and capital preservation. We approached the financing strategically, and we continue to believe that our secured position provides us with multiple paths to potentially preserve value while maintaining optionality around future strategic outcomes. Michael Frederick Legg, Jr.: Okay. Got it. Yes. That's all super helpful. And then maybe just one more on how the -- where should we be looking over the next 12 to 18 months? Where -- what milestones should we kind of be looking for? It seems like there's a lot of focus like you're saying, Steve, on the energy storage market. So just curious on what we should be looking for. Stephen Cotton: Yes, for sure. So a lot of the milestones from our core Aqua Metals business, of course, is a site selection for our first commercial art facility. And that is something that is very far along and underway, in fact, a big portion of our team is returning today from some more visits at a short list of sites that we're looking at selection. So that is something that we expect we'll be able to proceed with in a reasonable time frame on the site selection. And so the criteria for those site selection hasn't really changed materially and all that, and we've always prioritized for that site selection, things like feedstock logistics and infrastructure availability, utility economics, permitting environment, access to workforce and really importantly, proximity to the strategic ecosystem partners we're looking for, for feedstock and offtake. So in some ways, stepping back from the originally contemplated structure with Lion actually increases our flexibility on that milestone because it allows us to optimize purely around long-term operating economics and strategic positioning for our core business. But that doesn't mean that alternative structures with Lion Energy and/or other initiatives that we would take to achieve an earlier revenue production in the energy storage space is something that we're working on and expect to update the markets accordingly as we make progress on that portion of the initiative. I hope that answers the question. Michael Frederick Legg, Jr.: Yes, it does. That's all I had. Congrats on another quarter guys. Operator: I would now like to turn the call back to Dan Scott to facilitate questions that were submitted online. Dan, the floor is yours. Unknown Executive: Thanks, Tom. We have a couple that have come in. The first is for Steve. The question is, you've surpassed 5,000 cumulative operating hours in independently validated battery-grade lithium carbonate from both NMC and LFP feedstocks. What specific remaining technical or commercial milestones need to be cleared before you can commit to a site and begin FEL2 engineering? Stephen Cotton: Yes. So we're continuing to make very solid progress across the remaining milestones. At this stage, our focus is less about proving the core chemistry and process flows because we've already done that and achieved that with our innovation center and pilot and demonstration plant and a lot more about optimization, integration, throughput validation and commercial configuration aspects. We've now demonstrated that battery-grade lithium carbonate across multiple feedstocks. And that was really an important validation point for us. And we're also continuing to refine impurity management, leveraging our assets and our operations for things like reagent efficiency and operation stability as well as the overall process economics, which are really important. On the commercial side, that site selection that I talked about answering the prior question from Mickey with the team that's in the field literally this week, as I mentioned, feedstock alignment and infrastructure considerations and customer qualification discussions, things like project financing conversations, all come together in parallel as we take our disciplined phased development approach because we really want the first commercial facility positioned for long-term success and not just to get the short-term gratification of celebrating a groundbreaking. Unknown Executive: Okay. Great, Steve. And then there's one more question also for Steve. You've maintained commercial relationships with 6K Energy, Westwin, American Battery Factory, Impossible Metals and Mobi. Have any of these moved from MOU or LOI status towards binding agreements? And what does the commercial conversion timeline look like? Stephen Cotton: Yes. So we continue to, of course, actively engage with all of those parties named in the question and others. I would characterize several of those relationships is continuing to deepen both technically and commercially. And that said, at this stage, many of these discussions really naturally evolve alongside that timing of commercialization and site selection. And then getting into qualification work and overall project structure. So it's a sequencing thing that's really important to converting those to full force commercial agreements because you really have to have the site secured and line that out before you finalize everything else. What's encouraging is that we continue to see really strong interest in domestic refining solutions, recycled battery materials and low-carbon supply chain positioning. And the industry really understands that North America needs a scalable domestic refining capacity. And we're also really pleased that the lithium prices have recovered from the 2024 and 2025, I'll call it, lithium lull, where lithium prices went well below $20,000 to $10,000 a tonne, as I mentioned. And now we're in an environment where we feel that we're in a great position as one of the few companies remaining in North America to be able to fulfill this commercial plant and those commercial contracts as it relates to the commercial plant. Unknown Executive: Okay. Steve, thanks. That's it for online submissions. I'll turn it over to Steve for closing remarks. Stephen Cotton: Yes. Well, thank you, everyone, for calling in, and we really appreciate the continued support of Aqua Metals. We expect that we'll have new information to report to the market soon. So stay tuned. Operator: Thank you. This does conclude today's conference call and webcast. You may disconnect at this time, and have a wonderful day. Thank you once again for your participation. Before you buy stock in Aqua Metals, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Aqua Metals wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $468,861!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,445,212!* Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,013% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 210% for the S&P 500. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of May 15, 2026. This article is a transcript of this conference call produced for The Motley Fool. While we strive for our Foolish Best, there may be errors, omissions, or inaccuracies in this transcript. As with all our articles, The Motley Fool does not assume any responsibility for your use of this content, and we strongly encourage you to do your own research, including listening to the call yourself and reading the company's SEC filings. Please see our Terms and Conditions for additional details, including our Obligatory Capitalized Disclaimers of Liability. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Aqua Metals (AQMS) Q1 2026 Earnings Transcript was originally published by The Motley Fool

This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Release Date: May 14, 2026 For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript. Aqua Metals Inc (NASDAQ:AQMS) has surpassed 5,000 cumulative operating hours, validating the Aqua Refining platform and its pathway to commercialization. The company successfully produced battery-grade lithium carbonate from multiple recycled feedstocks, achieving industry-grade specifications. Aqua Metals Inc (NASDAQ:AQMS) achieved manganese sulfate production purity of approximately 99.8%, demonstrating broader applicability across critical minerals and battery precursor markets. The company maintained commercial relationships with several strategic partners, including 6K Energy and American Battery Factory, to broaden participation across the battery and energy storage ecosystem. Aqua Metals Inc (NASDAQ:AQMS) reported a significant reduction in net loss year-over-year, from $8.3 million in Q1 2025 to $4 million in Q1 2026, primarily due to non-cash impairment charges not repeating. Aqua Metals Inc (NASDAQ:AQMS) reported a net loss of approximately $4 million for the first quarter of 2026. The company decided not to proceed with the acquisition of Lion Energy under the previously announced structure, indicating potential strategic and financial misalignment. Cash used in operating activities was approximately $3.8 million during the quarter, indicating ongoing cash burn. The company recorded a provision for credit losses of approximately $437,000 related to its exposure to Lion Energy. Aqua Metals Inc (NASDAQ:AQMS) is still in the process of site selection for its first commercial lithium battery recycling facility, indicating that commercialization is not yet fully realized. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 3 Warning Signs with AQMS. Is AQMS fairly valued? Test your thesis with our free DCF calculator. Q: Can you provide more details on the decision not to proceed with the Lion Energy transaction and any ongoing discussions about potential alternatives? A: Steve Cotton, President and CEO: As we progressed through due diligence, it became clear that the originally contemplated structure did not align with our capital discipline and shareholder value objectives. We concluded that preserving flexibility and protecting the balance sheet was the right decision. We continue to see strategic value in the intersection of energy storage systems and domestic battery materials and are evaluating alternatives that could allow us to participate in a more capital-efficient manner. Eric West, CFO, added that the total exposure associated with Lion Energy financing activities was approximately $4.1 million, and a partial reserve was recorded due to increased uncertainty. We remain focused on downside protection and capital preservation. Q: What milestones should we be looking for over the next 12 to 18 months? A: Steve Cotton, President and CEO: Key milestones include site selection for our first commercial facility, which is well underway. We are prioritizing factors like feedstock, logistics, infrastructure availability, and strategic ecosystem partnerships. Stepping back from the Lion Energy structure increases our flexibility to optimize long-term operating economics. We are also working on initiatives to achieve earlier revenue production in the energy storage space. Q: What specific remaining technical or commercial milestones need to be cleared before committing to a site and beginning FEL2 engineering? A: Steve Cotton, President and CEO: Our focus is now on optimization, integration, throughput validation, and commercial configuration aspects. We have demonstrated battery-grade lithium carbonate across multiple feedstocks and are refining impurity management and process economics. On the commercial side, site selection, feedstock alignment, infrastructure considerations, and customer qualification discussions are ongoing. We aim to position the first commercial facility for long-term success. Q: Have any commercial relationships moved from MOU or LOI status towards binding agreements, and what does the commercial conversion timeline look like? A: Steve Cotton, President and CEO: We are actively engaging with partners like 6K Energy, Westwind, and others. Several relationships are deepening both technically and commercially. The conversion to full commercial agreements depends on site selection and project structure. There is strong interest in domestic refining solutions and recycled battery materials, and we are well-positioned to fulfill commercial contracts as lithium prices recover. Q: What is the current financial position and strategy regarding capital preservation and strategic planning? A: Eric West, CFO: For Q1 2026, we reported a net loss of approximately $4 million, an improvement from the previous year. We ended the quarter with $6.8 million in cash and cash equivalents. We raised $1.3 million in net proceeds under our ATM program, with $48.6 million remaining available. Our strategy focuses on preserving capital, disciplined spending, and supporting activities that best support commercialization and long-term shareholder value. For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.

RENO, Nev., May 14, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aqua Metals (NASDAQ: AQMS), a developer of sustainable battery recycling and critical minerals refining technology, today provided a first quarter 2026 update highlighting continued commercialization progress, strategic initiatives, and expansion of its AquaRefining™ platform as demand for domestically sourced battery materials accelerates. Advancing Toward Commercial Deployment During the first quarter, Aqua Metals continued executing a structured path toward its first commercial lithium battery recycling facility, advancing site selection, engineering definition, and commercial engagement with prospective partners. The Company is actively evaluating a short list of U.S. locations with a focus on feedstock proximity, logistics infrastructure, strategic partners, and long-term operating cost advantages, and expects to identify a preferred site in the coming months. In parallel, Aqua Metals is progressing engineering work to further define plant configuration, operating parameters, and capital requirements, supporting future project financing and construction readiness. The Company’s phased development approach remains focused on capital efficiency, prioritizing engineering, permitting, and commercial alignment ahead of larger-scale construction expenditures and project financing activities. Importantly, Aqua Metals enters this next commercialization phase from a position of resilience and strategic readiness. During the broader lithium market downturn and industry retrenchment of 2024 and 2025, the Company took disciplined actions to preserve cash, protect shareholder value, and continue advancing its core technology and operational capabilities, including continued operation of its Innovation Center and demonstration plant. With lithium market conditions and broader battery materials markets improving in 2026 alongside increasing domestic critical minerals supply chain priorities, Aqua Metals believes the market environment now supports renewed advancement toward commercial deployment. The Company believes its continued advancement of the AquaRefining™ platform and commercialization pathway positions Aqua Metals among a limited group of U.S.-based battery materials innovators advancing toward commercial-scale deployment and domestic production capacity. "In the first quarter, our team continued to build on the momentum established throughout 2025, advancing key technical and commercial initiatives that further demonstrate the differentiated value of the AquaRefining™ platform," said Steve Cotton, President and CEO of Aqua Metals. "We are making meaningful progress across our commercialization roadmap, continuing to refine our product quality and process capabilities, and strengthen the strategic partnerships that extend our platform's reach across the domestic battery materials supply chain. We remain confident in our path forward and in AquaRefining's role as a critical enabler of a secure, low-carbon critical minerals supply chain here in the United States." Strategic Initiatives and Near-Term Revenue Positioning Aqua Metals continues to pursue strategic initiatives designed to introduce nearer-term revenue streams and expand participation across the battery supply chain. The Company's previously announced commercial partnerships remain active, including the multi-year supply agreement with 6K Energy, the non-binding LOI with Westwin Elements, and the MOUs with Impossible Metals, MOBY Robotics, and American Battery Factory. Update on Energy Storage Expansion Strategy As part of this effort, the Company provided an update on its previously announced non-binding term sheet to acquire Lion Energy. Following detailed due diligence, Aqua Metals has determined it will not proceed with the acquisition under the structure and terms outlined in the February 11, 2026 non-binding term sheet. “We continue to see long-term strategic value in integrating energy storage solutions with our domestic battery materials platform, but our discipline around capital structure and shareholder value remains paramount,” said Cotton. “Based on updated information developed through diligence, the previously contemplated transaction structure is no longer aligned with our objectives.” The Company is actively evaluating alternative transaction structures that may enable a more capital-efficient approach to integrating selected energy storage assets. There can be no assurance that any alternative transaction or arrangement will be agreed to or consummated, or as to the timing, structure or terms of any such outcome. Innovation Center Driving Technical Validation and Expansion Aqua Metals’ Innovation Center and demonstration plant continue to serve as the technical foundation for commercialization, achieving over 5,000 cumulative operating hours across extended multi-feedstock operating campaigns. During the quarter, the Company achieved several notable technical milestones: Battery-Grade Lithium Carbonate: Successfully produced battery-grade lithium carbonate from multiple recycled feedstocks, including both NMC and LFP materials, with independent validation confirming industry-grade specifications. High-Purity Manganese Sulfate: Produced manganese sulfate at approximately 99.8% purity, demonstrating the potential applicability of AquaRefining™ across additional battery precursor and critical minerals markets, including materials derived from undersea nodules. Iron Phosphate Recovery Advancements: Continued process development for iron phosphate recovery from LFP materials, improving efficiency and product quality across bench and pilot-scale work. Expanding Platform Scope Across Large and Growing Markets While lithium-ion battery recycling remains the Company’s primary focus, Aqua Metals continues to expand the applicability of its platform into additional significant markets. Supporting a Domestic Battery Supply Chain As battery demand continues to grow across energy storage, emerging power-intensive applications, and electric vehicles, Aqua Metals believes domestic refining capacity and recycled critical minerals will become increasingly important to supply chain resilience, cost stability, and long-term energy security in the United States. Outlook Looking ahead, Aqua Metals’ priorities for the remainder of 2026 include advancing site selection, progressing engineering activities, evaluating strategic opportunities, and continuing technical validation. “We believe AquaRefining™ has the potential to become an important part of a more domestic, efficient, and resilient battery materials supply chain as the market continues to scale. Our process eliminates the waste streams and chemical costs that make traditional recycling uncompetitive in North America, and we have demonstrated battery-grade lithium carbonate production at fluorine levels we believe represent a best-in-class standard for recycled material. As we advance toward a preferred site selection decision and deepen our commercial partnerships, we do so with a validated technology, a growing IP foundation, and a cost profile that we believe is highly competitive,” added Cotton. Conference Call and Webcast Aqua Metals will host a conference call and webcast to discuss these results at 4:30 p.m. ET on Thursday, May 14, 2026. The live conference call webcast and replay can be accessed from the investor relations section of the Company’s website at https://ir.aquametals.com/. About Aqua Metals Aqua Metals (NASDAQ: AQMS) is revolutionizing metals recycling with its proprietary AquaRefining™ technology, delivering high-purity, low-carbon battery materials to meet the growing demand for sustainable energy storage. The Company’s innovation-driven approach reduces emissions, eliminates waste streams, and supports the establishment of a circular supply chain for critical minerals essential to electric vehicles and grid storage. For more information, visit www.aquametals.com Safe Harbor This press release contains forward-looking statements concerning Aqua Metals, Inc. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, our plans, objectives, expectations and intentions and other statements that contain words such as "expects," "contemplates," "anticipates," "plans," "intends," "believes," "estimates," "potential," and variations of such words or similar expressions that convey the uncertainty of future events or outcomes, or that do not relate to historical matters. Those forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, including, but not limited to, (1) the risk that we may not be able to acquire the funding necessary to develop our proposed commercial-scale plant or to maintain our current level of operations; (2) the risk that we may not be able to conclude definitive agreements with Lion Energy, Westwin Elements, Impossible Metals or MOBY Robotics, and (3) those risks disclosed in the section "Risk Factors" included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on March 31, 2026. Aqua Metals cautions readers not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake and specifically disclaims any obligation to update or revise such statements to reflect new circumstances or unanticipated events as they occur, except as required by law. Contacts For Media and Investor Inquiries: [email protected]

Our analysts just identified a stock with the potential to be the next Nvidia. Tell us how you invest and we'll show you why it's our #1 pick. Tap here. Management attributes their current positioning to a disciplined capital preservation strategy during the 2024-2025 industry downturn, where lithium carbonate prices fell below $10,000 per metric tonne. The company has surpassed 5,000 cumulative operating hours at its innovation center, validating the AquaRefining platform's ability to process multiple feedstocks including NMC and LFP materials. Technical milestones include producing 99.8% pure manganese sulfate and battery-grade lithium carbonate with fluorine levels management describes as best-in-class for recycled sources. Strategic focus has shifted toward LFP (lithium iron phosphate) recovery due to its accelerating adoption in stationary energy storage and electric vehicle markets. The decision to terminate the Lion Energy acquisition was driven by a determination that the original structure no longer aligned with the company's risk profile and capital discipline objectives. Management asserts that their proprietary process eliminates waste streams and chemical costs that typically make traditional recycling uncompetitive in the North American market. The primary priority for the remainder of 2026 is finalizing site selection for the first commercial lithium battery recycling facility from a current short list of U.S. locations. Site selection criteria are focused on feedstock access, utility economics, permitting environments, and proximity to strategic ecosystem partners for offtake. Management is evaluating alternative, more capital-efficient structures to integrate energy storage solutions with domestic battery materials infrastructure following the canceled Lion Energy merger. Future technical work will shift from proving core chemistry to optimization, integration, throughput validation, and refining process economics for the commercial plant. Commercial conversion of existing MOUs and LOIs is expected to sequence alongside the finalization of site selection and project financing structures. The company recorded a provision for credit losses of approximately $437,000 related to its $4.1 million total exposure in Lion Energy financing activities. Net loss improved year-over-year primarily because non-cash impairment charges recorded in Q1 2025 did not repeat in the current period. Aqua Metals maintains a senior secured second position in Lion Energy's credit facility, which management believes provides multiple paths for value recovery despite the canceled acquisition. The company utilized its ATM program to raise $1.3 million in net proceeds during the quarter, leaving approximately $48.6 million available for future flexibility. One stock. Nvidia-level potential. 30M+ investors trust Moby to find it first. Get the pick. Tap here. CEO Stephen Cotton stated the original deal structure did not align with shareholder value objectives, but the company still sees value in the intersection of storage and materials. CFO Eric West explained that the $437,000 reserve was a prudent GAAP requirement due to increased uncertainty, though they remain in a senior secured position behind the primary lender. The immediate focus is site selection; a team was actively visiting short-listed sites during the week of the earnings call. Stepping back from the Lion Energy deal is expected to increase flexibility in optimizing the first commercial facility's operating economics. Management noted that converting MOUs to binding agreements requires securing a physical site first to finalize project structures and qualification work. The company reported continued strong interest from partners like 6K Energy and American Battery Factory due to the need for scalable domestic refining capacity.

Our analysts just identified a stock with the potential to be the next Nvidia. Tell us how you invest and we'll show you why it's our #1 pick. Tap here. Management attributes their current positioning to a disciplined capital preservation strategy during the 2024-2025 industry downturn where lithium carbonate prices fell below $10,000 per metric tonne. The company has surpassed 5,000 cumulative operating hours at its innovation center, validating the AquaRefining platform across multiple feedstocks including NMC and LFP materials. Technical milestones include producing battery-grade lithium carbonate and achieving 99.8% purity in manganese sulfate, demonstrating broader applicability for critical minerals. Strategic focus has shifted toward LFP (lithium iron phosphate) recovery due to its accelerating adoption in stationary energy storage and electric vehicle applications. The company decided not to proceed with the Lion Energy acquisition under the original term sheet to protect shareholder value and maintain capital efficiency. Aqua Metals claims its process is more competitive in North America than traditional recycling because it eliminates specific waste streams and chemical costs. The primary near-term priority is finalizing site selection for the first commercial lithium battery recycling facility from a short list of U.S. locations. Site selection criteria are focused on feedstock access, logistics, utility economics, and proximity to strategic ecosystem partners. Management is evaluating alternative, more capital-efficient structures to integrate energy storage solutions following the cancellation of the Lion Energy merger. Future milestones include advancing FEL2 engineering and securing project financing as the company moves toward a phased commercial development approach. Commercial conversion of existing MOUs with partners like 6K Energy and American Battery Factory is expected to sequence after site selection and qualification work. The company recorded a $437,000 provision for credit losses related to its $4.1 million total exposure to Lion Energy due to increased uncertainty. Net loss improved year-over-year primarily because non-cash impairment charges recorded in Q1 2025 did not repeat in the current period. Aqua Metals maintains a senior secured second position in Lion Energy's credit facility, which management believes provides multiple paths for value recovery. The company utilized its ATM program to raise $1.3 million in net proceeds, leaving approximately $48.6 million available for future liquidity needs. One stock. Nvidia-level potential. 30M+ investors trust Moby to find it first. Get the pick. Tap here. Management stated the original structure no longer aligned with their risk profile or capital discipline objectives during the diligence process. They are now exploring alternative ways to access Lion's assets or customer channels in a more risk-balanced manner. The decision to step back from the merger is expected to increase flexibility in optimizing the location for the core AquaRefining commercial plant. Steve Cotton clarified that the focus has shifted from proving core chemistry to optimizing integration, throughput, and reagent efficiency. Commercial commitment requires the alignment of feedstock logistics, infrastructure availability, and project financing in parallel with site securing. Management noted that while relationships with partners like 6K Energy are deepening, binding agreements are sequenced to follow site selection. The recovery of lithium prices toward the $20,000 per tonne level is cited as a favorable environment for finalizing these commercial contracts.