Greenwave closes 2024 books with red ink

Greenwave Technology Solutions Inc., a Chesapeake, Virginia-based metals recycling firm that operates about a dozen facilities in the Carolinas, Virginia and Ohio under the Empire Metals name, has reported a net loss of more than $100 million for 2024.

Earlier this spring, Greenwave filed a Form 12-b-25 with the Securities and Exchange Commission requesting permission to release its fourth-quarter and full-year 2024 financial results during a 15-day extension period that extended into April.

The company’s revenue figure for 2024 declined compared with 2023, though Greenwave says it could have surpassed its 2023 revenue figure if it had not held onto inventory at the end of 2024 in anticipation of metal tariffs early this year likely driving the prices of domestic scrap metal higher.

Any profits Greenwave can earn with that technique will be welcome after the firm roughly tripled its net loss in 2024 compared with the year before and experienced an operating loss of more than $34 million—about 75 percent higher than its $19.5 million operating loss in 2023.

As it has in previous SEC filings, Greenwave includes comments pertaining to the future viability of its financial position.

“We may need additional capital in the future to continue to execute our business plan,” Greenwave says. “At the present time, we do not have arrangements to raise additional capital, and we may need to identify potential investors and negotiate appropriate arrangements with them.

“We may not be able to arrange enough investment within the time the investment is required or that, if it is arranged, that it will be on favorable terms. If we cannot obtain the needed capital, we may not be able to become profitable and may have to curtail or cease our operations. Additional equity financing, if available, may be dilutive to the holders of our capital stock. Debt financing may involve significant cash payment obligations, covenants and financial ratios that may restrict our ability to operate and grow our business.”

At the end of 2024, Greenwave had cash on hand of more than $2.5 million and a working capital deficit (current liabilities in excess of current assets) of more than $13.4 million. During 2024, Greenwave says the net cash used in operating activities totaled more than $17.2 million.

The metal recycling firm also lists an accumulated deficit as of Dec. 31, 2024, of more than $496 million.

“These conditions raise substantial doubt about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern for one year from the issuance of the consolidated financial statements,” Greenwave says.

Pointing to one note of optimism, Greenwave says between early February and the preparation of its report, domestic scrap steel prices rose by 32 percent.

“Demand is already far exceeding supply," the company says. "These are the market conditions in which Greenwave performs the best—and we’re moving quickly to expand our operations.”

Although recycled steel prices in the United States rose in the first three months of this year, mill buying transaction figures collected by the Raw Material Data Aggregation Service of Pittsburgh-based MSA Inc. indicate those prices fell again by $20 to $40 per ton this April.