Stardust Power Inc.

second quarter 2025 earnings call. My name is Tawanda, and I'll be your operator today. Before this call, Stardust Power issued its financial results for the second quarter ended 2025 in a press release. Joining us on today's call are Stardust Power's founder and CEO, Roshan Pajari, and CFO, Houdet DeVasper. Following their remarks, we will open the call for questions. Before we begin, Joanna Gonzalez, Starters Powers Director of Investor Relations and Communications, will make a brief introductory statement. Ms. Gonzalez, please proceed.

Thank you, Operator, and good afternoon, everyone. Before management begins their formal remarks today, we would like to remind everyone that some statements we're making today may be considered forward-looking statements under securities laws and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. As a result, we caution you that there are a number of factors, many of which are beyond our control, which could cause actual results and events to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. For more detailed risks, uncertainties and assumptions relating to our forward-looking statements, please see the disclosures in our earnings release and public filings made with the SEC. We disclaim any obligation or undertaking to update forward-looking statements to reflect circumstances or events that occur after the date the forward-looking statements are made, except as required by law. We refer you to our filings with the SEC for detailed disclosures and descriptions of our business, as well as uncertainties and other variable circumstances, including but not limited to risks and uncertainties identified under the caption risk factors in our recent filings. You may get Starless Power's SEC filings by visiting the SEC website at www.acc.gov. I would like to remind everyone this call is being recorded and will be made available for replay via a link in the Investor Relations section of Stardust Power's website. With that, now I will turn the call over to Stardust Power's CEO, Roshan Pajari. Roshan?

Thank you, Joanna, and thank you all for joining us today. Welcome to the Stardust Power Q2 2025 earnings call. To begin, let's take a moment to review the current market landscape and how it's shaping our business outlook. The macro environment for lithium continues to strengthen. The US is doubling down on energy independence and domestic supply chain resilience, positioning lithium as a vital component. From EVs to AI-powered data infrastructure and grid storage, lithium's strategic importance is only growing. Recent moves by the Department of Energy and Department of Defense reinforced the message, a reliable homegrown lithium supply chain is now a national priority for the United States. Lithium carbonate spot prices have shown signs of stabilization over the past six months, including a meaningful rebound of over 7% in July. This improvement in pricing sentiment is supported by tightening global supply expectations stronger downstream investment, and analyst outlooks pointing towards a more balanced sustainable cycle. For investors, it's an encouraging signal, particularly for the US-based lithium projects with near-term readiness. Underlying this momentum is continued demand growth from electric vehicles and energy storage systems. While EVs remain a core driver the growing rollout of lithium-ion energy storage, especially to support grid modernization and resilience, is playing an increasingly important role. Together, these sectors are reinforcing long-term demand fundamentals that support a more durable price environment. Many indications exist that the so-called lithium winter is subsiding and the market will continue to improve. At Stardust Power, this backdrop validates our mission to be a foundational player in U.S. lithium refining. We're developing one of North America's largest lithium brine processing facilities in Oklahoma at scale, speed, and with the full intention of enabling long-term supply security. Next, I'd like to share an update on our strategic direction and how we're positioning the company for long-term success. Our strategy is clear, targeted, and progressing as designed, and the importance of our mission to U.S. national security is becoming more evident every day. We're focused on becoming one of the leading U.S. refiners of battery-grade lithium. The opportunity isn't just in building capacity, it's in aggregation. While many smaller lithium producers across the country are coming online most lack access to domestic refining. Our model addresses that gap by centralizing and converting multiple streams of lithium brine into high-purity product on U.S. soil. In doing so, we're not only supporting upstream developers, but also solving a critical bottleneck in the U.S. lithium midstream. This positions Stardust Power uniquely. Our domestic footprint, permitting momentum, and project readiness align with both customer urgency and policy priorities. U.S. automakers, battery companies, and defense stakeholders aren't waiting for supply chains to materialize. They're actively seeking them now. With a large shovel-ready site, experienced team, and capital markets engagement already underway, We're moving faster than many other peers in the industry. Now let's turn to the geopolitical and trade environment, which continues to influence both our operations and growth opportunities. Recent geopolitical developments are reshaping the global lithium landscape every week. On July 15th, China implemented export controls on key lithium extraction and processing technologies, a direct response to U.S. critical mineral initiatives. This highlights the importance of domestic capability and is accelerating the urgency with which the U.S. policymakers are backing homegrown projects. In addition, recently announced U.S. tariffs on Chinese EVs and battery materials are further shifting supply chain strategies. These measures are designed to protect domestic industries and reduce reliance on foreign entities of concern, but they also underscore the need for robust U.S. refining and midstream processing capacity. For Stardust Power, these developments reinforce our competitive edge. We're not navigating permitting from scratch or waiting for new technologies to be developed. We're moving ahead and executing. With U.S. midstream capacity still scarce and customers increasingly shifting procurement to onshore sources, we're positioned to fill a strategic and growing gap in the supply chain. With the evolving policy landscape in mind, we'd like to discuss some of our key regulatory tailwinds that are benefiting our business. Since the beginning of 2025, the US has issued several executive orders aimed at accelerating critical mineral development, streamlining permitting, improving interagency coordination, and unlocking targeted federal investment. A directive in March of this year specifically prioritized lithium projects for expedited support. More recently, The Department of Defense entered into a landmark public-private partnership with a U.S.-based critical minerals company, committing a $400 million equity investment and establishing a price floor of $110 per kilogram, nearly double prevailing spot levels for strategic materials. This marked the first time the U.S. government has taken an equity position in a publicly traded critical minerals company. A departure from a traditional mechanisms of grants, loans, or offtake agreements, and signals a new level of federal commitment to securing strategic supply chains. This is just the beginning. This bold move underscores a growing willingness by the U.S. government to directly shape market outcomes when national security and industrial resilience are at stake. We're hopeful that this level of commitment sets a precedent for targeted support across the critical minerals value chain, including domestic lithium refining. As lithium demand accelerates, the case for federal backing of strategic lithium infrastructure has never been stronger. The momentum is clear. Policy is shifting in favor of those building real capacity on US soil. In that context, The saying, a rising tide lifts all ships is applicable. These tailwinds don't just benefit individual companies, they're elevating the entire US critical mineral sector. At Stardust Power, we welcome this. It enhances visibility for project financing, increases customer urgency, and strengthens the case for domestic supply. We're focused on execution with speed, discipline, and alignment to national goals because the US lithium moment is here and we're building to be an integral part of it. Turning to our supply, we continue to advance efforts in securing inputs. On the feedstock side, we remain actively engaged with multiple lithium brine developers across North and South America. Our strategy includes a mix of offtake partnerships and potential upstream investments that align with our commissioning timeline. While we trimmed our exposure to early-stage exploration assets that lack strategic fit, we continue to evaluate and advance supply opportunities that support scalable, long-term refinery operations. Now for a closer look at our engineering and operations updates for this quarter. The company continues to make progress in de-risking the project and advancing towards heavy construction. Permitting is nearly complete we have received our stormwater construction general permit from the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality on November 26, 2024, which allows site preparation and early construction activities to move ahead. Importantly, we were also cleared of any requirement for a wastewater discharge permit due to our planned closed-loop zero-liquid discharge design simplifying our regulatory path and highlighting how environmentally sound our facility will be. Our minor source air permit was submitted in January 2025 and has already received administrative approval. It is currently in ODEQ's internal technical review stage, and once final approval is granted, we will be fully cleared to commence operations. In May, we announced a major infrastructure milestone with the signing of an electric will serve agreement with OG&E, the Oklahoma utility company, to develop a dedicated electric substation for our site in Oklahoma. This agreement secures long-term power needed to operate our processing facility once built with associated engineering and construction costs covered by a usage commitment from Stardust Power, which limits upfront development capital needed by the company. This agreement marks a critical de-risking step, ensuring a reliable power supply and laying the groundwork for scalable operations, regional transmission upgrades, and future growth. Stardust Power has recently announced it has partnered with Ohio University to advance next-generation lithium extraction and purification technologies. Through this partnership, we will contribute samples, technical input, and commercial insight to support joint research to the university's potentially DOE-backed project. This partnership also has the added benefit of training the next generation of the lithium workforce. It's a smart way to deepen our innovation pipeline, support the U.S. lithium leadership, and build future talent while reinforcing our central processing strategy in Oklahoma. Stardust Power has completed the core work for its FEL III, or Definitive Engineering Study, a critical milestone in advancing our project. The study started in 2024 and led by engineering firm Primero USA has undergone internal review and refinement and is now in the process of independent third-party validation. We are taking a disciplined and methodical approach to ensure the results are robust, including value engineering and execution of strategy optimization. This process also includes identifying key vendors and long lead equipment suppliers to mitigate future bottlenecks and strengthen supply chain readiness. While we are pleased with the study's findings, we believe it is prudent to complete this final round of external validation before releasing the results. This careful approach reflects our commitment to transparency and project de-risking as we move forward toward a final investment decision. We look forward to sharing a detailed update with investors and stakeholders as the review process completes. Now, turning to community engagement and public affairs. In the second quarter of 2025, Stardust Power continued to deepen its commitment to the Muscogee region through visible and meaningful community engagement. We proudly sponsored the 1776 Fest at the Muscogee Fair held on June 6th and June 7th, a local celebration featuring a car show, musical performances, and family-friendly activities attended by close to 10,000 residents and community members. It was a great turnout and a lot of fun. Our team also participated in the Muscogee Chamber Golf Classic in May. the Oklahoma Business Roundtable annual meeting in June, and the Tulsa Renewable Business Alliance annual meeting later in June. Strengthening relationships with regional business leaders. In June, we sponsored the Environmental Federation of Oklahoma's regulatory newsreel meetings. a key industry forum attended by over 200 participants, including state regulators and leaders like Oklahoma's Secretary of Energy and Environment and the Director of the Water Resources Board. We also took part in the Port Muskogee Railroad Town Hall on June 25th to engage with local manufacturers and discuss future rail operations in the area. As we continue to lay the groundwork for a long-term presence in the region, workforce development has become a core focus. During the quarter, our team met with various institutions to explore potential partnerships in skills training and youth career pathways. We participated in the OSU IT Industry Partnership Day in August to align educational programming with our future hiring needs. We also continued with direct engagement with state and local officials, including Oklahoma's Department of Commerce and Department of Environmental Quality, to ensure transparency and build support for our project. As part of our local outreach, we were invited to speak at the Muscogee Rotary Club, where we discussed skills needed, safety aspects, and the environmental stewardship steps we are taking to keep our future employees and the community safe while operating our plant. Collectively, these activities reinforce our role, not just as a developer, but as a committed and collaborative community partner in Oklahoma. Now, let's shift focus to an important topic, an update on the financing for our phase one build out and the progress we've made so far. We continue to advance multiple workstreams in preparation for launching project financing with MUFG as the lead financial advisor. The independent engineer's third-party review of the fellow three report is underway. Financial modeling is nearing completion, and we are finalizing engagements with key advisors across market, insurance, and legal workstreams. The project remains on track to reach final investment decision following several key catalysts, including the release of our Fel III results, completion of pre-engineering and testing work, finalizing our supply, and securing full permitting and a debt equity financing structure to support our phase one construction. I'd like to take a moment to discuss our recent financing, which strengthened our financial position. The company successfully raised $4.52 million in gross proceeds through a public offering in June 2025, which included an over allotment amount. These funds were largely used to fund and complete our FFEL III engineering study, a key milestone toward our final investment decision. While the offering price came in lower than we had hoped, it provided the necessary capital to meaningfully advance the project and continue demonstrating steady progress. Trading activity has picked up since then with higher volumes and growing interest from a new base of retail investors, reflecting building market momentum and interest in the company name. And with that, it ends my remarks. I will now hand over to our CFO, Uday Devaswar, for his updates. Uday?

Thank you, Roshan. and good afternoon everyone and thank you for joining our earnings call for the q2 2025 earnings period before we begin i want to clarify that we will not be providing forward-looking guidance or estimates during this call our focus will be on discussing our past performance and the current state of our business we encourage you to refer to our filings with the sec for more detailed information turning to the financials for q2 2025 the company is pre-revenue currently As previously reported in our filings, our ability to meet working capital and capital expenditure requirements for the next 12 months is dependent upon our plan to raise additional capital from issuance of equity or receive additional borrowings to fund the company's operating and investing activities over the next year. As of Q2 2025, we had cash and cash equivalents of $2.6 million on hand compared to $0.9 million as of June 30, 2024. As of the current quarter end, we had no long-term debt. We have devoted substantial efforts and financial resources to raising capital and organizing and staffing the company, and as a result, have incurred significant operating losses. As of Q2 25 and Q2 24, we had an accumulated deficit of $60.1 million and $52.6 million, respectively. The company incurred a net loss of $3.7 million in Q2 25, which was higher by 1 million year-over-year. As we have not yet commenced commercial production of battery-grade lithium, this increase in our net loss reflects the anticipated ramp in operating expenses. These include higher consulting and professional service costs, personnel related costs, and general operational expenditures associated with advancing the build-out of our facility and laying the groundwork for execution under our supply agreements. Our loss per share improved to $0.06 for Q2 2025 compared to $0.07 in the prior quarter, reflecting the increase in weighted average common shares from the recent public offerings. Net cash used in operating activities increased to $4.5 million for the six months ended 30 June 2025 compared to $2.1 million in the prior year. The increase primarily reflects our continued investment in operations, hiring of key talents, and increase in legal and administrative expenses. Net cash used in investing activities was $2.2 million for the six months ended 30 June 2025, driven by our initial capital investments made in the anticipated building of the refinery. Net cash provided by financing activities was $8.4 million for the six months ended 30 June 2025, which was driven primarily by $12 million in cash received from public offerings and warrant inducements net of offering costs, offset partially by the repayment of $3.8 million of short-term loans. The funds were used to meet working capital needs and make capital investments and is reflected in the higher cash balance at the end of the quarter compared to Q1-25. We've also seen a meaningful and steady improvement in the volume and liquidity of our shares in recent months, which has contributed to more orderly execution in our recent financings, helping drive an increase in our cash position this quarter and giving us greater flexibility to execute on our strategic priorities. Now turning to potential concerns about the company's listing on the NASDAQ. We are actively evaluating all available options to address our NASDAQ compliance matters, including those related to minimum bid price and market value of listed securities. We have received the relevant deficiency notices and are reviewing strategic alternatives, including formal appeal and accelerated compliance efforts and the ability to implement a reverse stock split if necessary to preserve our listing status. We are working diligently to take actions that align with shareholder interests and support long-term value. To wrap up, I want to emphasize that although we are still in the pre-revenue phase, we've made significant financial and operational progress this quarter. This includes advancing work on our Pell-3 study and maintaining strong cash discipline as we move towards the final investment decision. Our recent capital raise was a crucial step to fund a key milestone, and we're steadily building a solid foundation to support project financing for the CapEx portion of our project. Our approach remains deliberate and measured, with a clear emphasis on long-term execution. We continue to focus on advancing our business plan, meeting key milestones, and maintaining accountability to our investors as we lay the groundwork for the next phase of growth. That concludes my remarks, and I turn it back to Roshan.

Thanks, Uday. With that, we are now happy to take your questions. Operator?

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, to ask the question, please press star 11 on your telephone, then wait for your name to be announced. To withdraw your question, please press star 11 again.

Please stand by while we compile the Q&A roster. Our first question comes from the line of

Joseph Regal with Roth Capital Partners. Your line is open.

Hey, Rochelle and team. Thanks for taking my questions. I guess first thing, you know, the market has changed quite a bit since the first time we've chatted. And I was wondering if there's been any impact on the outlook of availability of brine supply for the phase one plant, given, you know, I know some of the private entities that were looking at producing lithium brine and then having it converted have, you know, kind of fallen by the wayside.

Hi, Joe, and thanks for joining us on the call today. That is a great question. The market has changed. Some projects have decided not to move forward while others commenced. So there has been changes in the market. From the perspective of upstream brine supply, as mentioned, maybe some projects have not continued to advance, maybe potentially tightening the market, but also other projects have maybe made the decision not to go all the way to a battery-grade lithium carbonate and produce only a lithium chloride or similar lithium concentrate. as we have projected. So there remains ample opportunities from an upstream supply perspective.

Okay, that's great to hear. And then, you know, as you look forward on the financing front, obviously it's been tough times and things have brightened up quite a bit in the last few weeks. Have you had active conversations with the U.S. government about potential financing? Or have you guys applied for any specific grants that have come to light? I know there's been even a new announcement today about potential grants later this year. So, you know, any color there would be great.

Yeah, there is a changing landscape in Washington as well. And we're really happy to see the Trump administration's direction and policy towards developing domestic supplies of critical minerals and other materials. We've been engaged with the government at various levels, including working with them, giving them feedback on how the best way the government can support developers like ours. We continue applying opportunities with the federal government, as well as state governments, And we are confident that this continued interest in the sector can achieve material results. So we'll continue to be engaged in Washington.

Okay. All right. And then lastly, just on the NASDAQ listing, what are your guys, I guess, near-term plans to address that? And how much time do you have left to address it?

Joe, for that, I'll turn it over to CFO Uday.

Hi, Joe. Nice to talk to you, and thanks for your question. So yeah, we have close to about a month left on the first deficiency, which is a bid deficiency, as well as a little bit more time on the other ones. As far as the bid deficiency goes, like we mentioned in our prepared remarks as well. We're looking actively at all strategies. We did receive the approval for a reverse stock split in our AGM in June. So that's also one of the options available. So as we come closer to the date, we'll probably have a more definite plan as to how we can resolve each one of these, including interacting with the NASDAQ and figuring out the right approach.

Okay. All right. Well, I'll turn it over. Thanks.

Thank you. As a reminder, ladies and gentlemen, that's star 11 to ask the question.

I'm showing no further questions in the queue.

Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes today's conference call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.