Graphite One’s Annual Meeting Nears as Strategic Milestones Clash with Steep Stock Decline

Graphite One's stock slides 33% YTD but strategic milestones advance: $2.07B EXIM backing, Ohio plant permitting, and binding offtake talks with EV makers ahead of June 26 AGM.

Shares in Graphite One have lost more than a third of their value since January, yet the graphite developer is simultaneously edging closer to the federal backing and customer commitments that could define its future. That tension — between bleak price action and advancing strategic milestones — is set to come to a head at the company’s annual general meeting on 26 June.

On Thursday the stock closed at €0.75, exactly on its 50-day moving average but about 9.5% below the 200-day average. It has since slipped to €0.74, down 1.72% on the day, and the 52-week high of €1.52 reached in January now looks distant. Trading volume has been notably below the daily average, signalling that buyers remain on the sidelines despite the company’s positioning in the critical minerals space.

The AGM agenda carries more weight than routine housekeeping. Management is seeking shareholder approval for new compensation components, including equity-based awards for executives and employees for the 2026 calendar year. The board has already granted roughly 1.5 million restricted stock units (RSUs) and options, the latter priced at C$1.13 and vesting over three years. After the latest allocations, the company has 208,967,736 common shares outstanding, and with 4.4 million additional RSUs, 4.9 million performance share units and 10.7 million options still sitting in the omnibus plan, dilution is a live concern for current holders.

While compensation votes often pass quietly, the context here raises the stakes. Graphite One has shipped commercial-grade anode material samples to three electric-vehicle makers and three battery companies, with lot sizes up to 20 kilograms. All six counterparties are now evaluating specifications, and management says discussions are moving beyond lab tests into the tougher territory of quality, delivery capacity and pricing. Binding offtake agreements are the next hard milestone — and they are essential before a final investment decision can be made on the company’s planned processing plant in Ohio.

That facility, at Conneaut on Lake Erie, was secured in May 2026 after grid constraints forced a location switch from an earlier site. The first phase targets 10,000 tonnes of anode material per year, with production starting by the end of 2027. A second phase could more than double capacity to 25,000 tonnes, with a completion window through the third quarter of 2028. The integrated model — feeding the Ohio plant from the Graphite Creek resource in Alaska — positions Graphite One as a domestic supplier of the full battery-anode chain, a goal that has attracted Washington’s attention.

The US Export-Import Bank has issued revised non-binding letters of interest totalling $2.07 billion, split $670 million for the Graphite Creek mine and $1.4 billion for the Ohio plant, with 15-year terms. The funds would cover about 70% of total capital under the “Make More in America” programme, though the commitment is not yet final. Separately, the Trump administration launched Project Vault in February 2026, allowing the government to take direct equity stakes in domestic mining and processing companies through EXIM and the Defense Production Act. Graphite One’s integrated Alaska-to-Ohio chain makes it a natural candidate.

On the permitting front, the Graphite Creek project is moving through the FAST-41 process, with a federal decision date pencilled in for 29 September 2026. The US Army Corps of Engineers is leading the review, currently listed as “in progress” on the Federal Permitting Dashboard. The company also intends to seek FAST-41 coverage for the Ohio facility.

Broader sector dynamics add both urgency and caution. PwC recently warned that mining projects in northern Canada and the Yukon have only a narrow window to integrate into Western supply chains before demand from AI infrastructure, electrification and defence accelerates further. On 26 May, regional authorities announced a C$265 million infrastructure package, and a planned Yukon-BC power link would bring industrial hydroelectricity to the northern mining belt. That environment is positive for graphite developers collectively, but competition for attention is fierce. Focus Graphite recently rose 9.5% to C$0.46 after a “buy” rating from Fundamental Research with a C$1.27 target, while Zentek closed a C$18 million financing round at C$1.00 per unit only to see the stock trade below the issue price.

For Graphite One, the next few weeks are dominated by the AGM vote and the compensation plan approval. After that, the spotlight shifts firmly to customer test results, binding offtake contracts and the September permit deadline. If the company can deliver progress on all three, the Ohio plant’s foundation becomes far more concrete — and the narrative could finally start to align with the share price.