Forward Industries has greenlit a $1 billion share buyback program as its bet on Solana continues to sour. The company made the announcement Monday.
The repurchase authorization lets Forward buy back shares through open market purchases, block trades, or private negotiations. There’s no expiration date on the program.
FORD stock dropped nearly 20% on Tuesday as crypto-linked equities sold off across the board. The decline adds to an already brutal stretch for shareholders.
Shares have plummeted from a high of $39.60 to just $10.44. That’s a 73.6% collapse from peak prices.
Forward is the largest corporate holder of Solana with more than 6.8 million SOL tokens. The position is currently valued at roughly $1.2 billion based on today’s prices.
But the investment has turned into a money pit. The company paid an average of $232 per token for its Solana holdings.
With SOL trading below that purchase price, Forward is staring at unrealized losses of about $382 million. That represents a 24.13% decline from cost basis.
The company said the buyback gives it flexibility to purchase shares when they trade below intrinsic value. Forward plans to keep building its Solana treasury while repurchasing stock.
The firm recently fired up a validator node on the Solana network. This expands its blockchain involvement beyond passive token ownership.
Forward’s market capitalization has shrunk to approximately $900 million. That creates an odd situation where the company trades for less than its crypto holdings alone.
The market-to-net-asset-value ratio has fallen under 1. Investors are essentially saying the entire business is worth less than just the Solana tokens on the balance sheet.
This pricing suggests serious doubts about the crypto treasury business model. The market isn’t giving Forward credit for anything beyond its token holdings.
Forward isn’t the only crypto treasury company feeling pain. Several firms pivoted to this strategy during the bull run hoping to juice their stock prices.
The playbook hasn’t worked out. Standard Chartered analysts recently flagged that crypto treasury companies face a valuation squeeze.
Enterprise values keep falling relative to underlying crypto holdings. This compression creates the below-book-value trading seen with Forward.
Breed, a venture capital firm, warned in June that most Bitcoin treasury companies face a potential death spiral. The warning came as net asset values collapsed across the sector.
The pressure hits both Bitcoin-focused and altcoin treasury strategies. Forward’s Solana approach shows the model struggles regardless of which cryptocurrency a company chooses.
Forward Industries holds $1.2 billion in Solana tokens purchased at an average price of $232 each while current prices leave the company nursing $382 million in paper losses.
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