IMO mistakes have been repeated in not allowing the market to firm up and consolidate gains in GTC's stock price after good news. I believe the CFO/CEO team has been naive in timing these dilutive events concurrent with each major milestone event. I also think that GTC has been too conservative in attempting to manage market perceptions.
If GTC's survival depends on equity financing, then the team has an explicit obligation to defend the stock price with vigor, as opposed to the track that has benn taken, one that has been hesitant to flaunt the company's strengths, hasty and amateurish in the timing of its financing and PR moves, and until recently, cavalier about the prospects of the stock diving into the sub dollar range.
The company was absolutely not worried about a R/S possibility 18 months ago when most of us were apprehensive about it. PR opportunities were passed by because no one at GTC was managing market perceptions (someone at GTC needs to condescend to that level). Investors simply need to be constantly reminded of why they have their money in this company, especially most institutional investors, who aren't sophisticated at all. No lies or exaggerations, just facts, something GTC has plenty of good ones to go around and all the more necessary because of the complexity of the company.
This lack of understanding of how the stock market works and failure to advocate aggressively for us as owners is grounds for removal of the CFO/CEO combo. The only way they should be allowed to stay in control here is if they quickly demonstrate a change of heart towards shareholders and incorporate new strategies with regard to the stock. I agree with the sentiment that Dr. Cox has been the right person to get the team to the threshold of success but perhaps not the one to carry us over it. He could change that with an aggressive campaign to promote this technology and I don't mean endless trips to biotech conferences. Those are important but we also need an aggressive PR campaign to carefully educate investors who are primarily tuned in to press releases, articles, human interest stories, progress reports, and the like. Investors, including larger ones, do care about perceptions. In fact the stock price itself is a powerful force in projecting the value of a company. So it simply must be the prime focus of any CEO/CFO combo in a public company in the emerging science category.
AI
