The Water Tower Hour

Send us a textJindalee Lithium's CEO Ian Rodger discusses the company's McDermitt lithium resource in the context of developing a robust domestic critical metals ecosystem and provides an outline of milestones and deliverables stakeholders can look forward to as JLL  moves the project up the value chain. 

Send us a textSURG is excited about the opportunity to offer backend support, access to carrier network, and potentially, even outsourced customer care to virtual MVNOs that may have large subscriber bases, but don't have a direct relationship with a carrier. This Mobile Virtual Network Enabler (MVNE) market has opened up to SURG primarily because of its recent direct partnership with AT&T. 

Send us a textIn our latest Small-Cap Spotlight flashcast, Jeff Robertson, Managing Director of Natural Resources at WTR breaks down his recent initiation of coverage report on Journey Energy Inc.

Send us a textTune in to the latest Small-Cap Spotlight Flashcast! Join Tim Gerdeman, Vice Chair & Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer at WTR, and Peter Gastreich, Senior Energy Transition and Sustainability Analyst, as they discuss Neste Corp. Neste produces renewable fuels on three continents and operates the world's largest renewable fuels platform. Learn how Neste's global footprint and feedstock sourcing serve as competitive advantages and how management are responding to the currently oversupplied renewable fuels markets, cutting costs and repositioning for structural long-term growth opportunities. Policy implications for the US and EU are also discussed. 

Send us a textWe are joined by Al Petrie, Senior Partner at Al Petrie Advisors, and Jeff Robertson, Managing Director of Natural Resources at Water Tower Research to discuss the upcoming Louisiana Energy Conference. The conference will be held at the Four Seasons Hotel in New Orleans, Louisiana from May 27- 29, 2025. Water Tower Research is pleased to be a sponsor of the event which has been held annually for 25 years. The conference will include approximately 36 presentations, panels, and discussions led by representatives from more than 80 organizations that will address key domestic and international oil, natural gas, renewable, and clean energy developments and topics. The agenda includes a wide array of topics covering the offshore and onshore domestic and international oil and gas industry, financing issues, energy transition, and the impact emerging technologies could have on the way companies operate. Attendance is directed to investment professionals, including buy- and sell-side analysts and portfolio managers, private equity, and wealth management executives and trust officers along with energy industry participants. The full agenda and registration information can be found at the following link, LEC 2025

Send us a textThis week we caught up with Hylton Karon, President and CEO of iFabric, to discuss the company's recent strong results and continued outlook for double-digit top line growth.  Founded by Hylton in 1985, the Canadian textile company eschews fashion for performance.  iFabric today offers textile products and technologies that cover a wide range of consumer markets such as athleisure, lifestyle, swimwear, healthcare, hospitality and military applications.  Hylton also explains that while the company today is known as Intelligent Fabrics, it will soon be known as Intelligent Technologies as it begins to offer solutions for hard surfaces as well.  

Send us a textWater Tower Research Senior Analyst Dmitry Silversteyn discusses the deep-sea mining sector, specifically polymetallic nodules, including environmental and social aspects, role in enabling the energy transformation megatrend, and the ability to accelerate American self-reliance when it comes to critical metals. 

Send us a textOdyssey Marine Exploration's CEO Mark Gordon discusses company's prospects and opportunities post-NAFTA court decision, including potential development of phosphate resource off the coast of Mexico and progress portfolio companies are making in Cook Islands' polymetallic nodule-rich EEZ.

Send us a textOn this week's episode of WTR Small-Cap Spotlight, Richard MacPherson, President and CEO of Birchtech Corporation, joined Shawn Severson, CEO & Co-Founder of Water Tower Research, and Peter Gastreich, WTR Energy and Sustainability Analyst to discuss Birchtech's: 1) proprietary technology and specialty activated carbon products; 2) sustainable and affordable approaches for mercury emission control and potable water treatment; 3) significant growth opportunities and strategic expansion into the water purification market; 4) world class R&D facilities; 5) benefits of having 100% domestic sourcing; and 7) significant outstanding financial awards from patent infringement litigation in federal court.

Send us a textSES AI CEO Qichao Hu sits down with Water Tower Research's Tim Gerdeman and Brian Gordon to discuss the vision for the firm's Molecular Universe AI-augmented battery materials discovery platform and the way that AI, more generally, is powering the firm's business model. Hu also provides an update on SES AI's progress in EVs, new products targeting drones, robotics, and urban air mobility, and the scale of the market opportunity for battery energy storage systems for data centers.

Send us a textJoe Lowry and Dmitry Silversteyn discuss the current state of the lithium industry, including lithium mining and processing companies and regions, and EV battery technology evolution's impact on lithium demand, as well as the role of geopolitical considerations when it comes to lithium production, technology and market dynamics. 

Send us a textIn this WTR Symposium Series podcast, "FIRST MOVERS in Ethanol Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS)", managment of Gevo, Inc, (GEVO) and Rex American Resources (REX) join Shawn Severson, WTR CEO and Co-founder, and Peter Gastreich, WTR Senior Energy and Sustainability Analyst to discuss how low carbon ethanol, CCS, and SAF tie into the companies strategies and growth outlooks. The management of these companies are leading the way with their low-carbon strategies, growing operations and generating investment returns by helping industries, including aviation, meet their decarbonization objectives. At the same time, the companies are contributing to US energy abundance and playing a key role in supporting farmers, rural communities and the US agricultural economy. 

Send us a textIn our latest FlashCast, Tim Gerdeman, Founder, Vice-Chairman, and Chief Marketing Officer discusses FiscalNote (NYSE: NOTE) and its growth potential with WTR technology analyst Dr. John Roy and FiscalNote CEO and President Josh Resnik.

Send us a textTune in to the latest Small-Cap Spotlight Flashcast! Join Tim Gerdeman, Vice Chair & Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer at WTR, and Peter Gastreich, Senior Energy Transition and Sustainability Analyst, as they discuss Green Plains. Learn how the company plans to profit from CO2 waste streams with its Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) operations staring up in 2H25. The outlooks for low-carbon ethanol and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) are also discussed including implications from Trump administration policies. 

Send us a textDmitry Silversteyn offers his take on Administration's actions to increase domestic minerals production in the effort to decouple from China-dominated supply chain, its impact on mining and processing companies' prospects, and how investors can take advantage of the potential rebalancing of the critical minerals supply chain.

Send us a textOn this week's episode of WTR Small-Cap Spotlight, Marcus Laun, Co-Founder and VP Executive of Sky Quarry joined Tim Gerdeman, Vice Chair & Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer of Water Tower Research, and Peter Gastreich, Energy and Sustainability Analyst at Water Tower Research to discuss: 1) SKYQ's business of recycling asphalt shingle waste into oil products and other materials, and with zero waste; 2) SKYQ's innovative revenue model and offering waste shingle suppliers a lower cost alternative to landfills; 3) planned commissioning of the first 1.0 million ton per year capacity facility in Utah this year; 4) national expansion strategy; 5) expectations for decreasing regulation and streamlined permitting process; and 6) crowd funding as a source of financing.  

Send us a textOn this week's episode of WTR Small-Cap Spotlight, George O'Leary, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Sono Group (OTCQB: SEVCF), joined Tim Gerdeman, Vice Chair & Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer of Water Tower Research, and Peter Gastreich, Energy and Sustainability Analyst at Water Tower Research to discuss: 1) how Sono's proprietary solar integration technology for commercial vehicles can bridge the gap between today's conventional vehicles and the future EV market; 2) Sono's German roots and strategy to leverage local partnerships to grow in North and South America; 3) capital strategy and path to NASDAQ uplisting in the near-term; 4) Sono's competitive advantages; 5) customer engagement strategy and other topics.

Send us a textDmitry Silversteyn provides his impressions of the 2025 PDAC conference in Toronto and highlights some of the hot topics attendees were discussing at this three-day event. 

Send us a textIn our latest episode, Tim Gerdeman, Founder, Vice-Chairman, and Chief Marketing Officer discusses Palladyne AI (NASDAQ: PDYN) and its growth potential with WTR technology analyst Dr. John Roy and Palladyne AI co-founder, President and CEO Ben Wolff.Palladyne AI sells real-time learning and reasoning AI software platforms for robots, drones, and smart industrial systems. The company engages in the design, development, and manufacture of industrial robotic systems that augment human performance by combining human intelligence, instinct, and judgment with the strength, endurance, and precision of machines to enhance employee safety and productivity. Its mobile robotic systems include the Guardian S, Guardian GT, Guardian XO, and Guardian XT. The company was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in Salt Lake City, UT.

Send us a textCEO Mitch Steiner joins us on this week's collaboration with WTR Biotech Spotlight to talk about the next generation of drugs focusing on lean mass (muscle) preservation for obesity patients on the popular GLP-1 therapies. He reviews the recent enobosarm Phase 2b data and highlights the importance of functional clinical benefit in addition to maintaining lean mass. Listen to learn more about Veru and its obesity drug enobosarm.

Send us a textPerfect Corp. offers brands in the beauty industry the ability to offer an omnichannel experience to their customers, and for consumers to virtually try on products before making the purchases. The company recently acquired Wannaby to expand into the personal luxury vertical, which has expanded their targetable opportunity. In our conversation, we discussed how the company is positioning to reaccelerate top line growth, which we think, in turn, should lead to higher multiples.

Send us a textJoin Shawn Severson, Co-Founder and CEO at WTR, and Peter Gastreich, Senior Energy Transition and Sustainability Analyst, as they discuss how carbon capture and storage (CCS) can enable a big growth opportunity for low carbon ethanol and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in the US.  We quantify the growth potential and importance to the rural economy, detail what makes ethanol a low-cost candidate for CCS, explain why President Trump's "National Energy Emergency" executive order and appointments look supportive, and review eight listed companies with CCS, SAF and low carbon ethanol projects. For more, see our new WTR report "What Carbon Capture & Storage Could Mean for US Ethanol-Based Biofuels".

Send us a textIn our latest episode of WTR Small-Cap Spotlight, Tim Gerdeman, Co-Founder, Vice-Chairman, and Chief Marketing Officer and WTR's Senior Research Analyst, Brian Gordon, discuss Brian's top industry trends for 2025.

Send us a textWe are launching a WTR Spotlight podcast focused on biotech companies and industry. Listen to Tim Gerdeman, Vice Chair & Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer of Water Tower Research, and Do Kim, Senior Research Analyst, discuss what to expect and who will be joining us in future episodes. 

Send us a textTune in to the latest Small-Cap Spotlight Flashcast! Join Tim Gerdeman, Vice Chair & Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer at WTR, and Peter Gastreich, Senior Energy Transition and Sustainability Analyst, as they discuss Arq, Inc. Learn about Arq's low-cost transformation into a high-growth environmental tech company and management's strategy to capture large and growing opportunities to remediate environmental liabilities like PFAS, or "forever chemicals" in public drinking water systems. 

Send us a textIn our latest FlashCast, Tim Gerdeman, Founder, Vice-Chairman, and Chief Marketing Officer discusses BitFuFu (NASDAQ: FUFU) and its growth potential with WTR technology analyst Dr. John Roy and BitFuFu Vice President, Investor Relations, Charley Brady.BitFuFu Inc. engages in providing digital asset mining and cloud-mining services. The firm fosters a secure, compliant, and transparent blockchain infrastructure, providing a variety of stable and intelligent digital asset mining solutions to a global customer base. It leverages a global mining facility network and strategic partnership with Bitmain, which enables institutional customers and digital asset enthusiasts to mine digital assets. The company was founded by Leo Lu in December 2020 and is headquartered in Singapore.

Send us a textOn this week's episode of WTR Small-Cap Spotlight, Dr. Patrick Gruber, CEO at Gevo, and Lindsay Fitzgerald, EVP, Corporate Affairs, joined Peter Gastreich, Energy and Sustainability Analyst at Water Tower Research to discuss: 1) why the latest DC policy guidelines are a win for farmers, biofuel producers, the public and the environment, and a milestone for market-based ag conservation; 2) the importance of homegrown US energy and the economic benefits to the rural economy; 3) evidence of strong bipartisan support for biofuels in DC and support for CCS by key figures in the Trump administration; 4) Red Trail Acquisition close being very near and DOE Loan on track; and other key updates. 

Send us a textWTR Consumer Products analyst Doug Lane shares his thoughts on some common themes at last week's ICR conference in Orlando 

Send us a textLifeVantage's CEO Steve Fife and CMO Julie Boyster join us to discuss the recent successful launch of its MindBody GLP-1 System, and how they envision the brand as potentially being even bigger than its flagship Protandim Nrf2 Synergizer.

Send us a textIn our latest episode of WTR Small-Cap Spotlight, Tim Gerdeman, Co-Founder, Vice-Chairman, and Chief Marketing Officer and WTR's Managing Director of Natural Resources, Jeff Robertson, discuss Jeff's top industry trends for 2025.

Send us a textIn our latest episode of WTR Small-Cap Spotlight, Tim Gerdeman, Co-Founder, Vice-Chairman, and Chief Marketing Officer and WTR's Senior Research Analyst, Dmitry Silversteyn, discuss Dmitry's top industry trends for 2025.

Send us a textIn our latest episode of WTR Small-Cap Spotlight, Tim Gerdeman, Co-Founder, Vice-Chairman, and Chief Marketing Officer and WTR's Senior Research Analyst, Robert Sassoon, discuss Roberts's top Psychedelic trends for 2025.

Send us a textIn our latest episode of WTR Small-Cap Spotlight, Tim Gerdeman, Co-Founder, Vice-Chairman, and Chief Marketing Officer and WTR's Head of Consumer Products, Doug Lane, discuss Doug's top consumer products trends for 2025.

Send us a textTune in to the latest Small-Cap Spotlight FlashCast! Join WTR CEO & Co-Founder, Shawn Severson, and Senior Research Analyst, Do Kim, as they discuss WTR's initiation of coverage on Vivos Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ: VVOS).

Send us a textIn our latest episode of WTR Small-Cap Spotlight, Tim Gerdeman, Co-Founder, Vice-Chairman, and Chief Marketing Officer and WTR's Head of Cannabis, Jesse Redmond, discuss Jesse's top five cannabis trends for 2025.Register for free on our website to read the full report here: https://www.watertowerresearch.com/doc?docID=IR_CannaPro_11062024

Send us a textWe launch our inaugural WTR Symposium Series “Sustainable Aviation Fuel and Low Carbon Ethanol Ready for Take-Off” on this week's episode of WTR Small-Cap Spotlight. Senior management of four leading companies in the low carbon farm-to-fuel and waste-to-fuel supply chains [Continuum Ag, Gevo (GEVO), LanzaTech (LNZA), and Synata Bio] join Shawn Severson, WTR CEO, Co-founder and Head of Sustainability Research, and Peter Gastreich, Senior Energy and Sustainability Analyst. Topics include: 1) how SAF and low carbon ethanol tie into company strategies; 2) the tangible economic benefit to farmers; 3) any implications from changes underway in Washington DC; 4) benefits and challenges of operating globally; 5) signposts investors should look out for and other topics.   

Send us a textIn our latest episode of WTR Small-Cap Spotlight, Tim Gerdeman, Founder, Vice-Chairman, and Chief Marketing Officer discusses Cambium Networks (NASDAQ: CMBM) and its growth potential with WTR technology analyst Dr. John Roy and Cambium President and CEO Morgan Kurk.Cambium Networks provides wireless broadband networking infrastructure solutions for network operators, including medium-sized wireless internet service providers, enterprises, and government agencies. The company's scalable, reliable, and high-performance solutions create a purpose-built wireless fabric that connects people, places, and things across distances, ranging from two meters to more than 100 kilometers, indoors and outdoors, using licensed and unlicensed spectrum, at attractive economics. Headquartered outside Chicago and with R&D centers in the US, UK, and India, CMBM sells through a range of distributors overseas.

Send us a textIn our latest episode of WTR Small-Cap Spotlight, Tim Gerdeman, Co-Founder, Vice-Chairman, and Chief Marketing Officer and WTR Life Sciences analyst, Do Kim, discuss Do's top five biopharma trends for 2025.

Send us a textOn this week's episode of WTR Small-Cap Spotlight, Lindsay Fitzgerald, EVP, Corporate Affairs at Gevo, and Eric Frey, VP of Corporate Development, joined Peter Gastreich, Energy and Sustainability Analyst at Water Tower Research to discuss: 1) the changes underway in Washington and the track record of bipartisan support for biofuels; 2) the tangible economic benefit to farmers for producing low carbon crops for biofuel; 3) the DOE loan process of Gevo's Net Zero 1 sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) project; 4) the Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline progress and challenges; 5) biofuel tax credits; and 5) key catalysts and signposts ahead. 

Send us a textIn our latest episode of WTR Small-Cap Spotlight, Tim Gerdeman, Co-Founder, Vice-Chairman, and Chief Marketing Officer and WTR technology analyst Dr. John Roy discuss Dr. Roy's top five tech trends for 2025.The top five are: (1) AI Is Continuing to Grab Investor Interest as Expectations Have it Impacting Nearly Everything, (2) Edge Computing Driven by 5G Is Growing, (3) Cybersecurity is Everywhere as Attacks are Focusing More People, (4) Quantum Computing will get More Interest But Impacts Still Over the Horizon, and (5) Cryptocurrency Perception in the US could Become More Supportive

Send us a textTune in to the latest Small-Cap Spotlight FlashCast! Join WTR Vice Chair, Co-Founder & Chief Marketing Officer, Tim Gerdeman and Senior Research Analyst, Robert Sassoon, as they discuss WTR's initiation of coverage on Cybin, Inc. (NASDAQ: CYBN).

Send us a textIn the latest episode of the WTR Small-Cap Spotlight, Tim Gerdeman, Co-Founder, Vice Chairman, and Chief Marketing Officer discusses Gorilla Technology Group (GRRR) and its growth potential with WTR technology analyst Dr. John Roy and GRRR CEO Jay Chandan and CFO Bruce Bowers. Gorilla specializes in delivering AI-based smart and safe city solutions with an emphasis on security convergence and network defense, video analytics, and big data analytics applied across both public and private sectors 

Send us a textTune in to the latest Small-Cap Spotlight FlashCast! Join WTR Vice Chair, Co-Founder & Chief Marketing Officer, Tim Gerdeman and Head of Cannabis, Jesse Redmond, as they discuss WTR's initiation of coverage on Hydrofarm Holdings Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: HYFM).

Send us a textTune in to the latest Small-Cap Spotlight FlashCast! Join WTR Vice Chair, Co-Founder & Chief Marketing Officer, Tim Gerdeman and Senior Research Analyst, Graham Mattison as they discuss WTR's initiation of coverage on ARQ, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARQ).

Send us a textJack Lu, Director of Corporate Development, of Ainos joins us on this week's WTR Small-Cap Spotlight to discuss the therapeutic platform and Veldona clinical development. He reviews the effects of Veldona on the immune system and benefit seen in prior clinical trials. Jack focuses on the recently announced studies being conducted in Taiwan for the three priority indications of oral warts in HIV+ patients, Sjogren's syndrome, and cat FCGS in animal health. We get a sense of timelines for potential data catalysts and outcome goals.

Send us a textIn this week's Small-Cap Spotlight,  Lawrence Tan, iPower CEO, discusses the evolution of iPower from the growth of its online business to the development of its SuperSuite offering, using data analysis to refine product development, sourcing, logistics, and merchandising.  Lawrence believes iPower will increasingly focus on providing services to other product companies and sees SuperSuite becoming a quasi SaaS offering facilitating all aspects of online selling for the company's corporate partners.

Send us a textOn this week's episode of WTR Small-Cap Spotlight, Mark Behrman, CEO of LSB Industries (LXU), joins Shawn Severson, Water Tower Research CEO, Co-founder and Head of Sustainability Research, and Peter Gastreich, analyst on WTR's Natural Resources and Energy Transition sector teams, to discuss: 1) how LSB is pursuing growth and higher returns with carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) and low carbon ammonia; 2) the growing appeal of low carbon ammonia as a fuel for power generation and marine transport; 3) implications from the recent landmark Woodside Energy acquisition of low carbon ammonia assets in Texas;  and 4) how agricultural-based low carbon supply chains like sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) may increase demand for low carbon fertilizer. 

Send us a textIn this week's Small-Cap Spotlight,  Tim Gerdeman, Vice Chair & Co-Founder, and Chief Marketing Officer of WTR, joins WTR's Head of Cannabis, Jesse Redmond, and Hydrofarm CEO Bill Toler to discuss how the company is returning to growth. The cannabis industry has an unprecedented series of catalysts ahead, and Toler helps us understand how Hydrofarm may participate in this recovery. Toler also shares steps they have taken to get leaner during the downturn, how proprietary brands are enhancing margins, and how they have increased the company's vertical mix. We close by covering the risks that concern Toler the most and what he is most excited about as we head into 2025. 

Send us a textJesse Redmond, Head of Cannabis at Water Tower Research, speaks with Benzinga's Senior Vice President of Event Partnerships, Elliot Lane, to preview the Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference in Chicago. The conversation begins with an overview of the Benzinga platform and the two flagship cannabis conferences the company hosts every year. Elliot shares what he's looking forward to most at the Chicago event in October and previews the keynote Jesse will be moderating for Charlie Bachtell, CEO of Cresco Labs. Benzinga started a regional Spotlight Series this year. Elliot explains that the initial events in California and New Jersey were oversold and that the company will do more regional events in 2025. The conversation concludes by discussing the slow increase in institutional interest in cannabis and what it will take to get more large allocators to make investments in cannabis. 

Send us a textTune in to the latest Small-Cap Spotlight FlashCast! Join WTR CEO & Co-Founder, Shawn Severson and Technology Analyst, Curtis Shauger as they discuss WTR's initiation of coverage on Shift4 Payments (FOUR).

Send us a textKirk Huntsman, Chairman and CEO of Vivos Therapeutics joins us on this week's WTR Small-Cap Spotlight following the company announcement of its first known FDA clearance for a medical device in pediatric obstructive sleep apnea. He discusses what the FDA approval means for the millions of US children with this serious health condition. Kirk talks about how the pediatric market fits into Vivos' new marketing and distribution strategy, as well as the progress with medical-based affiliations.