Heliogen Inc., a Pasadena alternative-energy company, was to carry out a reverse stock split late last week.

The move was an effort to boost its share price so the company could regain compliance with the New York Stock Exchange. Its share price had dipped below – way below – the $1 minimum necessary to maintain a listing on the exchange.

The stock closed Thursday at a little more than 18 cents a share. 

Since the reverse split was to occur before the opening on Friday (after press time), that implies the new stock would have a starting price of about $6.38 a share. For every 35 shares of old stock, the shareholders were to get one share of new stock.

But the announcement of the reverse split didn’t do anything lasting for the share price.

 The stock price bumped up from about 22 cents to a high of 26 cents a share on Aug. 25, the day the split was announced. But it decreased about 30% from the highs that day to Aug. 31, the last day of trading before the reverse split. The reason for that decline was not apparent.

Nonetheless, the reverse split is designed to significantly boost the share price to keep it well above $1. 

“Heliogen believes that the higher share price resulting from the reverse stock split will also make Heliogen’s shares more attractive to institutional and other investors,” the company said in the release.

The reverse split will reduce the number of outstanding shares of Heliogen’s common stock from approximately 205 million to about 5.9 million, the company added.

Flat financials

Heliogen’s most recent second-quarter financials were also not kind to the stock price.

Shares closed at 24 cents on Aug. 8, the day the company’s results were announced, and closed at 23 cents – down about 4% –the following day.

The company reported a net loss of $21.7 million (-11 cents a share) for the quarter ending June 30, compared with a net loss of $20.2 million (-11 cents) in the same period of the previous year. Revenue decreased 42% from the second quarter of the prior year to $1.4 million.

Heliogen Chief Executive Christie Obiaya was upbeat about the company’s prospects in the Aug. 9 conference call with analysts to discuss second-quarter financials.

Heliogen has a contracted revenue backlog of $75 million that serves as a springboard for its future growth and had an additional 700 megawatts to its pipeline since May, which is a sign of market demandand the company’s aggressive progress in capturing it, Obiaya said.

Its first project installation is on track toward a goal of groundbreaking by the end of this year in Lancaster and mechanical completion by the end of next year, she added.

In addition, referring to the the company’s fully operational heliostat manufacturing facility in Long Beach, Obiaya said, “None of this will be possible without our strong team, who is bringing fresh energy to the challenge.”  

A heliostat is a device that includes a mirror that can be turned to maintain the reflection of sunlight on a target.

Heliogen is providing the heliostats and other technology to the Antelope Valley city to produce hydrogen for use in the city’s fleet.

The green hydrogen will be produced at Heliogen’s Proxima hydrogen facility in Lancaster and will leverage Heliogen’s technology using artificial intelligence and advanced computer-vision software to concentrate sunlight with mirrors, producing carbon-free hydrogen with economic-development potential. 

“Heliogen’s differentiated approach to clean energy is not just a response to market demand, but it’s a reimagined way of advancing the energy transition,” Obiaya said during the call with analysts.