Sivers Semiconductors: Three Directors Quit and a Nasdaq Listing Fizzles, Yet the Market Bets on a $799M Backlog

Despite resignations, a Nasdaq pullout, and a Swedish insider trading investigation, Sivers Semiconductors shares rose 10% on a $799M order pipeline, up 77% YTD.

Sivers Semiconductors shareholders sent the stock soaring 10% to €9.36 on Wednesday, even as the company’s annual general meeting dissolved into boardroom chaos. Three board members resigned just before the vote, a planned secondary listing on the Nasdaq was pulled from the agenda, and Swedish prosecutors are now probing suspected insider trading. Yet the market’s gaze remained fixed on a $799 million order pipeline that has swelled 77% since the start of the year.

The sudden departures include vice-chairman Tomas Duffy and co-founders Erik Fallström and Keith Halsey. Their exits left the board with just three members, all re-elected. Chairman Bami Bastani retains his role, with Joakim Nideborn stepping in as his new deputy. The meeting’s most consequential decision, however, was to grant management a broad mandate to issue up to 54 million new shares – roughly a 15% dilution of existing equity – without a simultaneous Nasdaq debut. The move hands the chip developer financial breathing room without the immediate dilution a US listing would have triggered.

Alongside the equity mandate, shareholders approved a secured convertible loan of approximately $330,000, subscribed by Bootstrap Europe. The note carries a fixed interest rate of 10.85% and matures at the end of 2029. The measure complements a refinancing completed earlier in the year.

The company is also navigating a twin legal headache. Swedish authorities are investigating a leak of confidential Nasdaq listing details that appeared on an anonymous X account two days before the official announcement – a period during which the stock surged sharply. Two US law firms have opened preliminary reviews of potential securities law violations, though no formal lawsuits have been filed. Separately, the board has indefinitely postponed a new employee compensation programme.

Operationally, the picture is starkly divided. First-quarter net revenue fell 22% to SEK 61.9 million, while the adjusted operating loss hit SEK 13.8 million. CEO Vickram Vathulya blamed delays in US defence budgets and currency headwinds. But the forward-looking metrics tell a different story. The order backlog has ballooned to $799 million, driven by strong demand for photonics and radio frequency technology. A key milestone is the $8.2 million contract with British satellite firm ALL.SPACE, which marks the company’s first meaningful step into series production.

Sivers continues to prepare for an eventual US listing, having already converted its financial reporting to US GAAP. That costly process uncovered deeper historical losses: the net loss for last year climbed to SEK 222.6 million. The stock, which traded as low as €0.27 in March, has now more than doubled in the past month alone and is up roughly 116% over that period. Annualised volatility stands at an eye-watering 239%.

Investors now await the second-quarter results on August 6. The management must show that the fat pipeline can finally translate into hard revenue growth. Until then, the suspended Nasdaq launch remains a nagging uncertainty – but for a stock that has already defied governance turmoil and legal scrutiny, the market appears willing to give it the benefit of the doubt.