Ellis Vance
Ellis covers the daily tape in small- and mid-cap equities for The SmallCap Signal, with a focus on index moves, breadth, and the catalysts driving outsized single-day swings.
Articles by Ellis Vance
ODDITY Tech's revenue falls 25% in the second quarter as the IL MAKIAGE advertising dislocation drags on, but guidance points to a much shallower third-quarter decline
The direct-to-consumer beauty group reported Wednesday that second-quarter net revenue fell to $181 million, with adjusted EBITDA down to $12.9 million from $69.5 million a year earlier. Management guided to an approximately 5% year-over-year revenue decline in the third quarter, a sharp moderation, while conceding it is still working with its largest advertising partner on the underlying technical problem.
Equity Bancshares Agrees to Buy Iowa's Lincoln Bancorp for About $123.8 Million, Lifting Pro Forma Assets to $9.1 Billion
The Kansas lender is paying 77.5% in stock and 22.5% in cash for a 16-branch Iowa franchise with $1.7 billion of assets, and says the deal earns back tangible book value dilution in under three years.
TScan Pauses Its Phase 3 for Lack of Money, Cuts 75% of Staff and Pivots Back to the Solid-Tumor Program It Shelved Ten Months Ago
TScan Therapeutics said on Sept. 2 it has paused enrollment in the ALLOHA-2 Phase 3 study of TSC-101 because it does not have the capital to run it, having reported dosing its first patient in that trial only three weeks earlier. The reversal buys roughly two extra quarters of runway and returns the company to the solid-tumour work it deprioritised in November 2025 to concentrate on the trial it has now stopped enrolling.
Ranger Energy Agrees to Buy STEP's U.S. Coiled Tubing Fleet for $27.5 Million, or About 2.5x 2027 EBITDA
The Houston well-services company will pay $22.5 million in cash and $5 million in stock for 13 coiled tubing spreads, five facilities and roughly 220 workers, funded off its revolver. Management expects the assets to add $80 million to $90 million of 2027 revenue and become the second-largest coiled tubing position in the Lower 48, with closing targeted for on or about Sept. 11.
Rezolve AI's First-Half Revenue Hits $130.8 Million, but Gross Margin Falls to 48.9% and Net Loss Widens to $139.5 Million
Revenue rose nearly 21-fold from a year earlier, yet gross margin dropped from 95.2% and the company burned $96.1 million of operating cash against $100.5 million of cash and restricted cash at June 30. Shares fell about 13% premarket Tuesday even as management reaffirmed roughly $360 million of full-year revenue guidance.
Priority Commerce Agrees to Buy IntelliPay to Open a Government Unit, Citing Just Over $4 Million of Added 2026 Revenue
Terms of the membership interest purchase agreement were not disclosed. The bolt-on lands while a take-private proposal at $6.00 to $6.15 a share from a group led by chief executive Thomas Priore, who controls a majority of the stock, remains outstanding and preliminary as of the company's most recent public disclosure on the matter.
Arbutus Opens $230 Million Dutch Auction Tender at $5.00 to $5.75 a Share, Enough to Retire Up to 23.2% of Its Stock
The hepatitis B biotech began a modified Dutch auction tender offer on Aug. 24 for up to US$230 million of its common shares, at prices from US$5.00 to US$5.75. Arbutus says a fully subscribed offer would take in between 20.2% and 23.2% of the 198,105,743 shares outstanding as of Aug. 19. The money comes from a Moderna patent settlement, not from operations: Arbutus held US$92.6 million in cash and investments at June 30 and booked US$1.0 million of revenue in the second quarter, down from US$10.7 million a year earlier.
J.H. Whitney sells 15 million Aveanna shares at $11.75, a week after the company raised guidance. Aveanna receives none of the money.
The home-health provider announced the launch of the secondary offering on Aug. 20 and priced it at $11.75 a share, about 9.4% below Thursday's $12.97 close. The selling stockholders are affiliates of J.H. Whitney Equity Partners VII plus current and former directors and officers; RBC Capital Markets is sole book-running manager and settlement is expected on Aug. 24.
NRx Says Its Ketamine Generic Cleared First-Cycle FDA Review With One Item Left — and Already Submitted. That Application Is the Anesthesia Label, Not Depression.
NRx Pharmaceuticals told investors Monday afternoon that the FDA has finished first-cycle review of its generic ketamine filing, and that the one remaining item, a manufacturer's attestation on the vial, has already been sent to the agency. Monday's release never says what that filing covers; an earlier NRx release does — the drug's existing anesthesia label. The depression indication runs through a separate NRX-100 application the company said Monday it is still finalizing.
Savara's FDA Decision Date Is Not This Saturday. It Moved to Nov. 22 Four Months Ago.
Savara said on April 15 that the FDA had pushed its MOLBREEVI review back three months after deeming the company's answers to agency questions a major amendment. Of three published PDUFA calendars we read on Monday morning, one still carried only the superseded August 22 date and a second carried it alongside the corrected one.
Quantum Corporation Booked a $155.3 Million Loss on 22 Million Shares. It Had 39.4 Million by August.
The data-storage company's fiscal first-quarter 10-Q shows a $5.0 million operating profit sitting above a $155.3 million net loss. Three fair-value and extinguishment charges tied to June's debt-for-equity recapitalization account for $157.7 million, and the cash flow statement treats all but about $3.3 million of them as non-cash. The per-share figure is struck on a weighted-average count barely half the shares outstanding on August 6, and the September quarter is the first that will carry the new count for its full length.
Exzeo Spent a $12 Million Buyback in Six Weeks. Friday Afternoon It Authorized $25 Million More.
The insurance-technology company announced the larger program after Friday's close. Its own filings show the first one repurchased 834,250 shares in about six weeks — roughly a tenth of the stock it sold in its IPO — while majority holder HCI Group's reported stake stood at about 83.1 percent at June 30.
Elutia Assembles Up to $26 Million Without Selling Stock, Betting the Company on One Device
The $42 million medtech said after Thursday's close that it had lined up a $15 million Avenue Capital loan facility and up to $11 million from selling its SimpliDerm business, enough in management's view to carry NXT-41x through FDA clearance and full commercial launch. Chief executive Randy Mills stressed the company did it without an equity offering. The catch is that most of the money is contingent, and one tranche is unlocked only by the very clearance it is meant to fund.
July Retail Sales Fell 0.6%. The Russell 2000 Owns More of That Miss Than the S&P Does
The Census Bureau's advance July estimate landed at $763.6 billion, down 0.6% from June against calendar forecasts that sat above zero. For an index that earns roughly four-fifths of its revenue inside the United States, the category detail matters more than the headline.
Leslie's Collapses, Harmonic and EnerSys Jump: Wednesday Night's Small-Cap Earnings Split Sets Up Thursday's Open
A pool retailer withdrew its outlook and said it is exploring strategic alternatives, while a broadband equipment maker and a battery supplier raised the bar. The dispersion beneath a steady small-cap index is the story heading into Thursday's PPI print.
Small caps finish ahead of the large-cap benchmarks as July CPI lands in line
The Russell 2000 closed Wednesday up 0.61% at 3,045.56, outpacing the S&P 500's 0.26% gain and a Dow that finished slightly lower. The official prints show small caps took the in-line inflation report better than the mega-cap indexes did.
Astronics, Velo3D and Definium all closed higher Wednesday for three unrelated reasons
An aerospace supplier posting record bookings, a metal 3D-printing company raising guidance, and a clinical-stage biotech clearing a Phase 3 endpoint all finished Wednesday higher. The mechanics behind each move have almost nothing in common.
Small caps hold their gains as July CPI lands in line and traders lean toward a Fed hold
A soft headline inflation print and a 1.5% drop in energy prices kept the Russell 2000 in positive territory Wednesday, easing pressure on the rate-sensitive corner of the market.
Earnings Season Bites: OppFi and Purple Innovation Sink on Guidance Cuts While Plug Power and Riot Rally
Second-quarter results drove sharp two-way moves in smaller stocks Tuesday, with guidance cuts punished severely and beats rewarded with double-digit gains.