British Columbia-based Damon Motorcycles is in trouble, big trouble. After finally making their long-promised IPO last fall, their share price has now fallen so far that they’ve ceased trading on the stock market, and the company’s future remains in question as a result.
The story so far
In early 2020, Damon debuted electric motorcycle prototypes at CES in Las Vegas. Previously known for R&D in the world of motorcycle safety tech, Damon’s new machines (looking like a hybrid of an EV powertrain with a modified Yamaha chassis) were shown with promises of next-generation performance, radical technology and production starting within a short time.
Since then, it’s been promise after promise, but Damon has delivered no motorcycles to customers five years later. Plans for production in British Columbia went up in smoke; a proposed move to California production seems to be stalled as well, with online posts purporting to show empty rooms on the site Damon said they were building their production facility. Despite announcing deals with component suppliers, showing off new prototypes and constantly saying they were only a few months away from building bikes, Damon has shown no concrete proof that customers are likely to receive the fruits of their down-payments. A recent team-up with Milan-based Engines Engineering looked promising, especially when combined with the fact that founder Jay Giraud and Amber Spencer (Damon’s Chief Media Officer, and Giraud’s partner) had left the company.
But news of new partnerships and leadership has not been enough for investors. At its IPO on the NASDAQ exchange, Damon was reportedly looking for $12 a share; they have consistently traded at a fraction of that price (highest was $4.95, and that didn’t last for long). In recent weeks have plummeted well below value of a penny a share, with concerns over shareholder dilution (meaning the company is selling more shares that drops the value of the shares they already sold). Because of all this, the NASDAQ stopped Damon from trading on April 29, and the company is currently evaluating its next moves. There’s talk of it joining an over-the-counter market if they can’t straighten things out with the NASDAQ, and despite what Reddit thinks, that’s not a good thing.
The future?
It looks like Damon’s made all the money it will make off the stock market at this point, and no motorcycles have been delivered yet. Despite the deal with Engines Engineering, the company will still need cash to move forward, and with private investment options already tapped hard, and now an apparent end to stock market fund raising, it is hard to imagine Damon will move forward in coming months as they recently promised.
