GrafTech Opens $50M Stock Sale as Losses Deepen
Distressed
Company Background
GrafTech International (NYSE: EAF) is the world's only large-scale graphite electrode producer substantially vertically integrated into petroleum needle coke, its primary raw material. The company sells into the electric arc furnace steelmaking industry globally, with manufacturing facilities in France, Mexico, and Spain. Its approximate market capitalization stands near $260 million.
The financial picture has deteriorated sharply over the past two years. The full-year 2025 net loss was $219.8 million, or $8.45 per share, on net sales of $504 million — a loss figure that nearly doubled from $131 million in 2024. Adjusted EBITDA for full-year 2025 was negative $9 million, compared to a slim positive $2 million the prior year. The culprit, management has consistently stated, is industry-wide overcapacity driven by Chinese and Indian producers that has pushed graphite electrode prices to what GrafTech describes as "unsustainably low" levels.
GrafTech conducted a 1-for-10 reverse stock split effective August 29, 2025, a move the company had framed as necessary to maintain compliance with NYSE listing standards after the stock price had fallen sharply. The balance sheet reflects years of accumulated losses: as of March 31, 2026, the accumulated deficit stood at $1.056 billion and total stockholders' deficit was $304 million.
What Was Disclosed
On May 29, 2026, GrafTech entered into an Equity Distribution Agreement with Evercore Group L.L.C., authorizing the sale of up to $50 million of common stock through an at-the-market offering. Evercore will act as sales agent using commercially reasonable efforts consistent with normal trading practices, and will receive a commission of up to 3.0% of gross proceeds. GrafTech retains full discretion over the timing, price, and volume of any sales — or whether to sell any shares at all; the filing explicitly notes that the company "cannot provide any assurances that it will issue any Common Stock pursuant to the Equity Distribution Agreement."