Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.
Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.
See my other post about preferred stock and stock options regarding Looby's small amount of common shares held.
My opinion is that the board would have never elected Looby as CEO unless they were confident he was doing everything within his power to make the company succeed. Simply owning shares is one of the only ways we can judge his commitment, but the board has insider rationale we can't fathom.
Please consider preferred stock and stock options. Looby may not be sitting on many shares of common stock, but he might have the options to acquire large amounts of preferred stock which he can then turn into common stock. His options likely don't expire for some years to come - so he might be holding on to them for more ideal timing.
Remember that when Microsoft got part of apple, they exchanged preferred stock to common stock at incredible ratios.
"Microsoft's $150 million investment netted the company 150,000 shares of preferred stock, convertable to common shares of Apple stock at a price of $8.25, redeemable after a three year period. By 2001, Microsoft had converted all of its shares into common stock, netting the company approximately 18.1 million shares. "
It might honestly help Ekso that Looby's not converting his options into shares although somewhat counter-intuitive at first glace looking at insider trading activity. The timing issue might be immensely more important than the benefit of having the shares currently (simply declaring losses to offset income tax)
Medtronic or Bristol-Myers Squib are more likely than Siemens following Ekso's Sales VP acquisition, I'd say.
Both Tom Looby and Babini have been part of companies sold to Medtronic.
Babini was Divisional Sales Director at United States Surgical Corporation - which became part of Covidien - which was then purchased by Medtronic.
Looby's Given Imaging was also sold to Covidien before it became Medtronic.
Here's the history from wikipedia:
In 1998, Tyco Healthcare acquired Sherwood, Davis & Geck, a manufacturer and distributor of disposable medical products, and United States Surgical Corporation (U.S. Surgical), which provided suture and auto suture devices, along with energy-based devices, through its Valleylab brand. And, in 2000, Tyco Healthcare added respiratory and monitoring products provider Nellcor Puritan Bennett through the acquisition of Mallinckrodt Inc.
In 2007, Covidien was formed when Tyco International spun off its health care business. Since that time, Covidien has made a number of acquisitions including VNUS Medical Technologies, Aspect Medical Systems, Somanetics, ev3, BÂRRX, Newport Medical Instruments, superDimension, Oridion Systems and Given Imaging. Offshoring and focus on Low Cost Countries (LCC) resulted in several plant closures in the USA particularly a few in upper New York state.
Covidien was purchased by Medtronic in a transaction that closed in 2015.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Covidien
-----------
I think if Ekso wanted, they could have sold majority control long ago - but instead have decided to hold onto their cards a little longer.
I don't know how many of you watch Silicon Valley, but keeping company ownership in-house is what's in style even if it's painfully, comically hard to do. It's still the only way to be hugely successful.
The last thing I'll point out is this:
Ekso is headquartered in Richmond, California
Bristol-Myers Squibb, often referred to as BMS, is an American pharmaceutical company, headquartered in New York City.
Medtronic's operational headquarters is in Fridley, Minnesota.
Intuitive Surgical is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California
Siemens is headquartered in Germany.
Ekso Vest to be launched this month
EKSO ARTICLE SPONSORED BY TOYOTA ON MOTHERBOARD:
https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/a33kxg/bricklaying-robots-and-exoskeletons-are-the-future-of-the-construction-industry
Incredible hire, I couldn't be more pleased.
Ekso Bionics Reminds Shareholders Rights Offering Will Expire at 5:00pm ET on August 31, 2017
Thought013, you are COMPLETELY wrong. Big claims require big evidence. Examine the evidence:
The website says Russ is current CTO and nobody but you has said otherwise. The fact he didn't list multiple titles on an SEC form that asks whether he's an officer or director is nothing more than semantics. I'd say you were over-analyzing, but the fact you're ignoring more basic principles leads me to believe you're being maliciously misleading.
http://eksobionics.com/about/leadership/
The company has legal obligations to notify shareholders if an officer is hired or fired through a press release.
If you continue to post things that are extremely emotionally charged while simultaneously ignoring the facts of reality, you're posts will be removed for violating terms of service.
Russ is still CTO, only listing one of his multiple officer positions on an SEC form is standard practice. It's not a resume, it's just for tax purposes to put him in a bracket. Ekso has legal obligations to tell us if someone is hired/fired from officer positions anyhow so of course the person posting is just trying to scare people. That or the poster isn't well informed. Either way, his information is garbage.
I disagree, I think you're reading too far into it.
He's not a director and never has been. He's an officer just like the CEO meaning that he's appointed. The form he's filling out simply has him state this, mostly for tax purposes.
Furthermore, the website says he's the current CTO and I assume they would announce a new CTO, not just get rid of their current one and only tell people through a SEC form.
In fact, I think it's malicious to even suggest the thought.
---------------
Mr. Angold is the Co-Founder and has served as the Chief Technology Officer of Ekso Bionics since December 2011. From the founding of Ekso Bionics until December 2011, Mr. Angold served as Vice President of Engineering. Prior to joining Ekso Bionics, Mr. Angold held various engineering positions at Rain Bird Corporation, Berkeley Process Control and the Irrigation Training and Research Center in San Luis Obispo, California. Mr. Angold is also the Founding President and Chairman of the Bridging Bionics Foundation. Mr. Angold is a registered Professional Mechanical Engineer and holds a bachelor’s degree in BioResource and Agricultural Engineering from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.
Ekso's fate probably rests in the next 12 months. If we can't get growth very soon to the point the company becomes profitable, we're going to be shit out of luck.
"I think it's good we're loosing money right now" - Jeff Bezos, now the world's richest man.
He said this when amazon was new and not profitable. I can't find the quote, but I just heard Bezos say it himself on a CNN documentary about the internet.
Just saying....Ekso might be in the same position if things go right. Sometimes expansion is more important than profit.
I've seen a lot of zero-g videos (most with only a couple hundred views at most) but I haven't seen too many announcements about sales of the zero-g. I wish the company would announce a more major contract with a distributor, not make more videos.
Once the product is action, assume your users will find it cool enough to make videos themselves, or provide incentives for them to video its use. That would be my advice to Ekso.
I think your comment was spot on because look at how many shares Russ still holds. 278,932 as of 8/15
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1549084/000145524417000017/xslF345X03/edgar.xml
Actually, there's a good possibility that Angold is raising money to participate in the rights offering at $1 per share. Even if you are high up in a tech company, most people don't have $278,932 dollars sitting around to buy more shares at $1 a piece (and the number was higher more recently of course).
My father was CEO of a public company for multiple years before he bought a used luxury car. Successful people are largely pragmatic. Bill Gates still wears jeans.
So after much consideration and a few calculations: I'm not worried about Russ' sale short term at all, in fact I'm actually excited by it. Time will tell.
http://www.secinfo.com/d12TC3.kUe6.d.htm
This is the first part of the prospectus, but apparently a supplemental prospectus was also filed today if anyone has the link?
The institutions that barely hold any shares aren't holding those shares to make a profit exactly, but rather it's more of a legal issue. Essentially Ekso has obligations to their shareholders, so it puts the institution into a position where they can get more accountable/accurate statements from the company.
It's certainly a good sign, making a larger buy significantly more likely in the future if the institution likes what they see from Ekso.
Hopefully we don't have to wait until 2018 before returning to the $3 mark. If we can break $5 before June 2018, I'll be actually happy again
Institutional ownership now greater than 5%, BARCLAYS takes a position
http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/ekso/institutional-holdings/new
More GT units sold than any other quarter, and the vest pilot program sold out of units so it appears popular and it's supposed to launch this quarter, so probably september. Presales have began though which is great.
It's a mistake they didn't create more Ekso Vests, who knows how many they would have sold if they simply built more. Losing 5 million dollars in a quarter isn't exactly stunning performance even if it beats estimates, I really want to see a true profit, not stock bonuses to officers. Plus restructuring fee's and cutting employees all the while...
Still, probably some more good than bad
Also, be sure to carefully read the intro and the links (above)
post# 3588 has some good information about the public rights offering, and about the previous 30 posts before that too.
At the moment my current focus is the earnings report tomorrow
I'm probably not going to buy more stock as offered since I'm already beyond 5% of my capital invested into EKSO, but since Ironamn is coming out soon (TALOS release in 2018), and the chassis is made by Ekso --- well I might just have to put a tint bit more in.
"EksoVest available for Presale now!"
EksoWork's facebook post:
The latest innovation from EksoWorks is here! Check out the EksoVest available for Presale now! #powerwithoutpain #sparkinginnovation #OSHA International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers AFL-CIO Machinists Union North America's Building Trades Unions
U.S. Code › Title 38 › Part I › Chapter 1 › § 111
---- it got amended because of a bill Ekso lobbied on. Take a look at part of that bill
https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/5325/text
Sec. 250. (a) In General.--Section 111(b)(1) of title 38, United
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new
subparagraph:
``(G) A veteran with vision impairment, a veteran with a
spinal cord injury or disorder, or a veteran with double or
multiple amputations whose travel is in connection with care
provided through a special disabilities rehabilitation program
of the Department (including programs provided by spinal cord
injury centers, blind rehabilitation centers, and prosthetics
rehabilitation centers) if such care is provided--
``(i) on an in-patient basis; or
``(ii) during a period in which the Secretary
provides the veteran with temporary lodging at a
facility of the Department to make such care more
accessible to the veteran.''.
---------------------------------
So this little tidbit in (G) puts spinal cord injury into a category where money can be appropriated to it. So look at the newly amended Title 38, (G):
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/38/111
(1) Except as provided in subsection (c) of this section and notwithstanding subsection (g)(2) of this section or any other provision of law, if, with respect to any fiscal year, the Secretary exercises the authority under this section to make any payments, the Secretary shall make the payments provided for in this section to or for the following persons for travel during such fiscal year for examination, treatment, or care for which the person is eligible:
(A) A veteran or other person whose travel is in connection with treatment or care for a service-connected disability.
(B) A veteran with a service-connected disability rated at 30 percent or more.
(C) A veteran receiving pension under section 1521 of this title.
(D) A veteran (i) who is not traveling by air and whose annual income (as determined under section 1503 of this title) does not exceed the maximum annual rate of pension which would be payable to such veteran if such veteran were eligible for pension under section 1521 of this title, or (ii) who is determined, under regulations prescribed by the Secretary, to be unable to defray the expenses of the travel for which payment under this section is claimed.
(E) Subject to paragraph (3) of this subsection, a veteran or other person whose travel to or from a Department facility is medically required to be performed by a special mode of travel and who is determined under such regulations to be unable to defray the expenses of the travel for which payment under this section is claimed.
(F) A veteran whose travel to a Department facility is incident to a scheduled compensation and pension examination.
(G) A veteran with vision impairment, a veteran with a spinal cord injury or disorder, or a veteran with double or multiple amputations whose travel is in connection with care provided through a special disabilities rehabilitation program of the Department (including programs provided by spinal cord injury centers, blind rehabilitation centers, and prosthetics rehabilitation centers) if such care is provided—
(i) on an in-patient basis; or
(ii) during a period in which the Secretary provides the veteran with temporary lodging at a facility of the Department to make such care more accessible to the veteran.
--------------
The key words being "shall make the payments provided for in this section to or for the following persons for travel during such fiscal year for examination, treatment, or care for which the person is eligible"
So travel, treatment, and care. Basically the VA made a huge number of veterans with spinal cord injuries to be eligible for a lot of money that's largely diapered Oct 1st, 2017.
They say Q4 is the best for not having negative results (at least this way true of the S&P 500 when the article was published). It'd be nice if someone could post Q4 history for ekso/nasdaq in more recent years and see if this applies.
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=3672986
If true, I wonder how much of it has to do with the military industrial complex and the fact that appropriations bills disperse money October 1st?
This is the one bill Ekso has lobbied on so far that has become law, but 3 others are on their way
https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/5325/text
New patent for Ekso Aerial granted
Ekso had a new video of their vest on youtube, but I think it got taken down.
Basically the motto was "power with out pain".
77m steps, if Ekso charged per step we'd be rich.
Heilmeier's Catechism
A set of questions credited to Heilmeier that anyone proposing a research project or product development effort should be able to answer:
-What are you trying to do? Articulate your objectives using absolutely no jargon.
-How is it done today, and what are the limits of current practice?
-What's new in your approach and why do you think it will be successful?
-Who cares? If you're successful, what difference will it make? What are the risks and the payoffs?
-How much will it cost? How long will it take? What are the midterm and final "exams" to check for success?
---
I thought this was really pertinent. I think as long as Ekso has DARPA contracts going for it - all of these questions are likely answered.