Firsthand Technology Value Fund Discloses Preliminary NAV of $23.83 Per Share as of December 31, 2017
January 23 2018 - 1:09PM
Firsthand Technology Value Fund, Inc. (NASDAQ:SVVC) (the “Fund”), a
publicly traded venture capital fund that invests in technology and
cleantech companies, disclosed today that its preliminary NAV* as
of December 31, 2017, was $23.83 per share and its top five
holdings were Pivotal Systems, QMAT, IntraOp Medical, Nutanix, and
Revasum.
1. |
Pivotal Systems
Corp. provides monitoring and process control technologies
for the semiconductor manufacturing industry. As of December 31,
2017, the Fund’s investment in Pivotal consisted of 33,508,691
shares of preferred stock plus warrants to purchase additional
shares and represented approximately 19.9% of the Fund’s
preliminary net assets.* |
2. |
QMAT,
Inc. is developing advanced materials technologies for
applications in the electronics industry. As of December 31, 2017,
the Fund’s investment in QMAT consisted of 18,000,240 shares of
preferred stock plus debt securities and warrants to purchase
additional shares, and represented approximately 13.4% of the
Fund’s preliminary net assets.* |
3. |
IntraOp Medical
Corp. is the manufacturer of the Mobetron, a medical
device that is used to deliver intra-operative radiation to cancer
patients. As of December 31, 2017, the Fund’s investment in IntraOp
consisted of 26,856,187 shares of preferred stock plus debt
securities and represented approximately 12.1% of the Fund’s
preliminary net assets.* |
4. |
Nutanix,
Inc. (NASDAQ:NTNX) is a provider of hyperconverged data
center equipment that merges computing, storage, and networking
capabilities in a single piece of equipment. As of December 31,
2017, the Fund’s investment in Nutanix consisted of 458,772 shares
of common stock and represented approximately 9.3% of the Fund’s
preliminary net assets.* |
5. |
Revasum,
Inc. is a provider of chemical-mechanical planarization
(CMP) and grinding tools to the semiconductor industry. As of
December 31, 2017, the Fund’s investment in Revasum consisted of
2,965,717 shares of preferred stock and common stock plus debt
securities and represented approximately 8.5% of the Fund’s
preliminary net assets.* |
The Fund also announced that, as of December 31, 2017,
preliminary net assets of the Fund were approximately $174 million,
or $23.83 per share, including cash and cash equivalents of
approximately $0.25 per share. As of that date, the Fund’s top five
holdings constituted 63.2% of the Fund’s preliminary net assets.*
Complete financial statements and a detailed schedule of
investments as of December 31, 2017, will be available with the
Fund’s annual report filing on Form 10-K in March 2018.
Fund PerformanceDuring the fourth quarter of
2017, several material events occurred that contributed to a
significant increase in the Fund’s NAV. Because the valuation
changes noted below were not based on realized gains, and in some
cases may be based in part on proposed or pending transactions,
these gains may not be realized and NAV declines or volatility may
occur in the future.
Notable events included the following: Shares of Roku
(NASDAQ:ROKU) rose 95% in Q4, following its successful IPO in
September. As of December 31, 2017, the Fund held 250,000 shares of
restricted Roku common stock, with unrealized appreciation of
approximately $9 million. Nutanix, (NASDAQ:NTNX), the Fund’s other
large public holding, saw its stock rise 58% during the quarter. As
of December 31, 2017, the Fund held 458,772 shares of Nutanix
common stock, with unrealized appreciation of approximately $9
million.
A number of our private company holdings coincidentally achieved
significant milestones during the fourth quarter, underscoring the
unpredictable nature of venture capital investing. While the first
three quarters of 2017 were relatively quiet, a number of our top
holdings recently completed, or have pending, new funding rounds at
significantly higher valuations. The estimated fair market values
of these companies appreciated significantly as a result. With no
assurance that these pending transactions will close, we could see
a drop in these values in future quarters.
The Fund liquidated its position in Cloudera (NYSE:CLDR) during
the fourth quarter, selling 20,000 shares of common stock and
realizing a small loss in the process.
Share Repurchase PlanOn November 13, 2017, the
Fund announced a plan to repurchase up to $2 million worth of SVVC
stock in the open market by March 30, 2018. Through the end of
December, we had repurchased and retired 128,551 shares of stock at
a total cost of approximately $1 million. As of December 31, 2017,
the Fund had 7,302,146 shares outstanding.
*The Fund’s annual audit for fiscal year 2017 is in progress and
has not yet been completed. To the extent there are adjustments as
a result of the audit, the adjusted NAV for December 31, 2017, will
be published in the Fund’s annual report. The Fund currently has no
knowledge that there is any material audit adjustment that may
require publishing an adjusted December 31, 2017, NAV.
About Firsthand Technology Value FundFirsthand
Technology Value Fund, Inc. is a publicly traded venture capital
fund that invests in technology and cleantech companies. More
information about the Fund and its holdings can be found online at
www.firsthandtvf.com.
The Fund is a non-diversified, closed-end investment company
that elected to be treated as a business development company under
the Investment Company Act of 1940. The Fund’s investment objective
is to seek long-term growth of capital. Under normal circumstances,
the Fund will invest at least 80% of its total assets for
investment purposes in technology and cleantech companies. An
investment in the Fund involves substantial risks, some of which
are highlighted below. Please see the Fund’s public filings
for more information about fees, expenses and risk. Past
investment results do not provide any assurances about future
results.
CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS: This press
release contains "forward-looking statements" as defined under the
U.S. federal securities laws. Generally, the words "believe,"
"expect," "intend," "estimate," "anticipate," "project," "will,"
and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements, which
generally are not historical in nature. Forward-looking statements
are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause
actual results to materially differ from the Fund’s historical
experience and its present expectations or projections indicated in
any forward-looking statement. These risks include, but are not
limited to, changes in economic and political conditions,
regulatory and legal changes, technology and cleantech industry
risk, valuation risk, non-diversification risk, interest rate risk,
tax risk, and other risks discussed in the Fund’s filings with the
SEC. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking
statements, which speak only as of the date they are made. The Fund
undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any
forward-looking statements made herein. There is no assurance that
the Fund’s investment objectives will be attained. We acknowledge
that, notwithstanding the foregoing, the safe harbor for
forward-looking statements under the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995 does not apply to investment companies such as
us.
Contact:
Heather HohlowskiFirsthand Capital Management, Inc. (408)
624-9525vc@firsthandtvf.com
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