Yield10 Bioscience, Inc.

Yield10 reported fourth-quarter 2023 net loss of $3.3 million, or $0.27 per share, versus a net loss of $3.3 million, or $0.67 per share, in Q4 2022. Full-year 2023 net loss was $14.5 million, or $1.82 per share, versus $13.6 million, or $2.76 per share in 2022. Q4 R&D expense was $2.0 million and G&A was $1.4 million; full-year R&D was $8.3 million and G&A was $6.2 million. Cash and cash equivalents ended Q4 at $1.1 million, and management said a March warrant inducement raised an additional $1.2 million net; Vision will make payments totaling $3.0 million, and management expects current resources to support operations into Q2 2024. Forward-looking, the company plans to deliver first omega-3 product samples and file for regulatory approval of oil in Chile in 2024, while also completing the Rothamsted license and pursuing R&D partnerships and license options in biofuels.

Oli Peoples framed 2023 as the year Yield10 proved out a closed-loop Camelina value chain and cleared important regulatory hurdles, especially for herbicide-tolerant and omega-3 traits. He said the company is now leaning into omega-3s because they offer a nearer-term path to operating revenues and potentially better margins than biofuels, while biofuels remain strategically important but require much more capital and scale. His tone was upbeat but pragmatic, emphasizing partnerships, non-dilutive funding, and the need to build acreage and commercial validation over time.

Chuck Haaser said Yield10 ended Q4 with $1.1 million in cash and cash equivalents, then added $1.2 million net from a March warrant inducement transaction. He noted Vision’s payments total $3.0 million and that the company expects current cash, including that offering, to fund operations into the second quarter of 2024, while it actively seeks additional funds. On the P&L, he highlighted Q4 net loss of $3.3 million, full-year net loss of $14.5 million, Q4 operating cash use of $1.7 million, and full-year operating cash use of $10.1 million.

Analysts focused on whether the company is effectively de-emphasizing biofuels in favor of omega-3s, and Peoples said biofuels remain a long-term opportunity but the market is in a holding pattern because of California LCFS uncertainty and a soybean oil surplus. On omega-3s, he said Yield10 is open to multiple end markets, but aquafeed is the simplest near-term market and a good drop-in replacement for fish oil, while higher-value pharma and concentrates need more development. In questions on Vision and future partnerships, management said the $3.0 million is largely already in or due soon, gave no revenue projection for Vision, and said it prefers partners that can provide non-dilutive funding and validation, but it is open-minded on deal structure.