BrainChip (ASX:BRN) share price rises on first quarter update

James Mickleboro | April 28, 2021 10:56am | More on: BRN

Image source: Getty Images

The BrainChip Holdings Ltd (ASX: BRN) share price is pushing higher following the release of its first quarter update.

In morning trade, the artificial intelligence technology company’s shares are up 3% to 61.5 cents.

What happened in the first quarter?

In respect to its financials, it was a routinely quiet quarter for the company.

At the end of 31 March, BrainChip had a cash balance of US$20 million. This was up from US$19.1 million at the end of December.

Management advised that this was the result of net cash outflows from operating activities of US$3.8 million being offset largely by cash receipts of US$1.12 million and US$3 million from the exercise of options.

In respect to the latter, millions of BrainChip options were exercised during the quarter at just 20 cents per share.

What else has been happening?

Management took this opportunity to remind shareholders of developments during the quarter.

One of those was its addition to the All Ordinaries index at the March quarterly rebalance.

Another development was the appointment of Peter van der Made to the position of Interim Chief Executive Officer to replace Louis DiNardo who left the company.

In respect to this, BrainChip advised that it continues to undertake a thorough search for a highly qualified and seasoned permanent replacement.

Another development, which came after the end of the quarter, was the company’s design and manufacturing partner, Socionext, releasing the engineering layout of the production version of the AKD1000 chip to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company. Production units are expected to be available for testing in the third quarter of FY 2021.

Following today’s gain, the BrainChip share price is now up an incredible ~1,100% over the last 12 months.

This gives the pre-revenue company a market capitalisation of almost $1 billion. This is despite its technology being unproven and facing competition from tech behemoths.