METCB

Ramaco (mis-tagged 'Silver Ores' — it is a metallurgical-coal producer now branding itself a 'dual platform critical mineral company') is in a genuine cyclical downturn. FY2025 revenue fell 19.5% to $537M and the company swung to a -$51.4M net loss and -$56.0M operating loss (-10.4% operating margin) from +$11.2M in 2024 — the first loss in the five-year history shown, driven by soft global met-coal pricing. The MD&A is explicit about the cause: global metallurgical-coal markets 'softened in 2024 and continued to do so in 2025,' with weak Chinese steel demand and elevated Chinese steel exports pushing buyers to cut both volumes and the price paid for coking-coal feedstock. Tonnage actually grew (3.8M tons produced, up from 3.7M), so this is a price problem, not a volume-collapse problem — the operating leverage cuts both ways when met prices recover.

The balance sheet tells the real story of the year: total assets jumped 69% to $1.14B, cash exploded 1,234% to $440M, and long-term debt rose 406% to $468M. Management levered up and raised liquidity to fund the mid-2025 launch of the Brook Mine rare-earth and critical-minerals project near Sheridan, Wyoming. Liquidity is not the near-term risk — current assets of $598M dwarf $110M of current liabilities (~5.4x current ratio) and current debt is negligible ($56K) — but leverage is now real (liabilities/equity 1.36x) into a cyclical trough where operating cash flow has already collapsed to $1.97M (from ~$116M).