Quantum Corp

Revenue in the most recent quarter hit 78 million dollars, up 27% from a year earlier and 10 million dollars above what management had guided. The quarterly losses are shrinking fast too, from 46.5 million dollars two quarters ago to 27.8 million and then to 9.5 million. The company has now posted positive adjusted earnings three quarters in a row after years of shrinking.

Quantum raised 94.7 million dollars from investors and used it to pay off roughly 56 million dollars of term debt and convert the rest of its notes into stock. It now carries no debt at all and roughly 50 million dollars in cash, which removes the risk that lenders force its hand. Its newest product line, ActiveScale, saw revenue triple year over year as AI workloads drove demand for cheap long-term storage.

Clearing that debt came at a steep cost to existing shareholders. The share count went from about 7 million two years ago to 14.6 million at fiscal year end, and then to 39.4 million after the latest raise. That is more than five times as many shares in about 15 months, so each one now owns a much smaller slice of the same company.

For the full year the company lost 101 million dollars on 280 million dollars of revenue and burned through 37.9 million dollars of cash just running the business. Gross margin slipped from about 40% to 37% as component costs rose. Full year revenue grew only 2%, and management guided the next quarter to 75 million dollars, which is lower than the 78 million it just reported.