TLDR
- CEO Benjamin Gagnon bought 58,888 KEEL shares at $3.33 each, spending around $196,000 of his own money.
- KEEL stock was up 7.69% in premarket trading Monday, trading at $3.78.
- Last week’s earnings missed estimates: loss of 11 cents per share vs. 6 cents expected; revenue of $30.43M vs. $32.40M expected.
- Multiple analysts maintain Buy ratings, with price targets ranging from $5.50 to $10.
- Keel has a weighting of over 10% in three State Street Galaxy ETFs, meaning ETF flows can move the stock.
Keel Infrastructure (KEEL) stock was trading up 7.69% at $3.78 in Monday premarket after CEO Benjamin Gagnon made a notable insider purchase last week.
Gagnon picked up 58,888 shares on August 13 at a weighted average price of $3.33 per share. The total outlay came to roughly $196,000. After the transaction, he held 1,347,736 shares directly.
Insider buys tend to catch the market’s eye. When a CEO puts his own money in, investors pay attention.
That said, an insider purchase alone is not a reliable signal of where a stock is headed.
The purchase comes right after a rough earnings report. Keel posted a loss of 11 cents per share last week, wider than the consensus estimate of 6 cents. Revenue came in at $30.43 million, missing the $32.40 million estimate.
The company also logged an operating loss of $141 million, compared to operating income of $11 million in the same period a year earlier.
A big chunk of that swing came from $63 million in accelerated depreciation tied to mining-rig shutdowns at Panther Creek and Scrubgrass.
Adjusted EBITDA fell to negative $24 million from positive $7 million a year ago.
Analysts Still Bullish
Despite the earnings miss, Wall Street hasn’t walked away. Keel carries a consensus Buy rating and an average price target of $6.17.
H.C. Wainwright analyst Mike Colonnese reiterated his Buy rating and $5.50 price target on August 11. He pointed to Keel’s three key development projects, Panther Creek, Sharon, and Moses Lake, as still on track to reach ready-for-service status by end of 2027.
Colonnese flagged that uncontracted 2027 power capacity is becoming scarce in the AI and HPC data center market, which he sees as a tailwind for Keel.
Alliance Global Partners also maintained a Buy rating with a $7.00 target, issued the day prior.
BTIG started coverage with a Buy and an $8 target back on July 22. Citizens set a Market Outperform rating and a $10 target in June. Chardan Capital held its Buy and $5.50 target in early June.
ETF Exposure Worth Watching
Keel has a weighting above 10% in three State Street Galaxy funds. The State Street Galaxy Hedged Digital Asset Ecosystem ETF (HECO) holds a 10.35% weighting. The State Street Galaxy Digital Asset Ecosystem ETF (DECO) sits at 10.29%. The State Street Galaxy Transformative Tech Accelerators ETF (TEKX) is at 10.16%.
Those allocations mean that buying or selling pressure within these ETFs flows directly into KEEL.
Despite the bullish analyst coverage, broader insider activity tells a different story. Over the past quarter, seven insiders have shown a net negative sentiment, with more selling than buying relative to earlier this year.
Keel’s prior bitcoin mining operations have been fully decommissioned, with the company now pivoting toward high-performance computing infrastructure.
