7 Comments
May 14Liked by Idea Hive

They have a decent moat with E-bloc, industry expertise and reputation. Their equipment is the most reliable out there, customers demand a "No-Fail" product as the implications of not having power can be massive. E-Bloc is trusted to deliver on that front.

ETN, PWR, SU could theoretically develop their own systems however this would be resource intensive and would take some time. They would probably also have to poach employees. A buyout might be cheaper than copying.

E-boost is a no moat business, they have first mover advantage there so can capitalise on that over 24-25.

They are having capacity issues as their e-bloc factory is already at 100%, cap raises appear likely if PPSI wants to meaningfully grow.

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Thanks for the idea,

It seems the annual report is delayed to be filed. So far the only news on the PPSI site regarding this from late April is about the SEC notification regarding the delay... and no statement from management regarding this - neither in that release nor subsequent to that,... seems odd to me and makes me a bit uneasy.

Is there anything you know about that?

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I did notice that, I'm not too concerned at the moment. They have a bit of history with this. Last years 10k was late by 8 days, we're already well over a month this year. I'd put this down to them being a small company & not used to growth.

I'd keep a close eye on any Nasdaq statements about non-compliance / de-listing, all we have atm is "The company expects to file its Annual Report with the SEC in the coming weeks.". They have until June 17th to file or convince the Nasdaq for an 180 day extension.

When they file we should pay close attention to the auditors, if they change again it's a big red flag.

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This is intesresting.. They ditched their reputable auditor of 8 years BDO USA in May of 2022 for Marcum LLP. Here is what the SEC have to say about Marcum:

https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2023-114

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Thanks for digging, I wouldn't have looked out for that. From what I understand that's a bit concerning regarding the audit quality.

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All their revenue growth occurred after changing auditors, I don't think figures can be trusted. Seems like a shitco to me.

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author

Thanks for pointing this out. This seems to be a risk, although I find it hard to attribute the revenue growth solely to the auditor change since it coincided with the launch and ramp-up of e-Bloc. This is a real product that has already received several large customer orders, and the sizes of these orders largely explain the recent and projected growth. Meanwhile, PPSI's management appears to be aligned, with the CEO holding a 22% stake and consistently buying shares on the open market over the recent years (although in insignificant amounts) without selling any. So, currently, I am inclined to give the company the benefit of the doubt.

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