A battery-metals recycler that saw a 1,000% jump in its stock price in a year plummeted after a key US government grant was canceled.
American Battery Technology Co. fell as much as 25% in pre-market trading on Thursday morning after the company said in a filing Wednesday that the US Department of Energy terminated a previously awarded grant. Shares slid as much as 28% on Wednesday.
The grant awarded in 2023 would have helped finance design and construction of a plant that would manufacture battery cathode-grade lithium hydroxide, according to the filing. American Battery is the latest in a string of alternative-energy companies stung by President Donald Trump’s rollback of Biden-era green policies and supports.
The Energy Department notified American Battery of the cancellation on October 9, the Nevada-based company said. As of that date, there was $52 million in reimbursable funds remaining, according to the filing.
“As it relates to this particular grant cancellation: what makes it surprising is that the Trump administration has generally looked positively on domestic manufacturing of clean energy hardware, because this helps to reduce dependence on imports from (especially) China,” Pavel Molchanov, an analyst at Raymond James, wrote in an email.
The Energy Department didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment outside of normal business hours.
