A Walk Down Memory Lane With Founder Of Co/Investor Club Michael Pruitt + TGEN & More July Investor Clips [GeoWire Weekly No. 198] | 🇺🇸 ACFN, MUEL, CRAWA, SPOK, ATGN 🇨🇦 CNO.V, ARE.TO, NURS.V

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This week’s Microcap Information Arbitrage Weekly Wrap-Up is ready — spotlighting key moves, missed signals, and overlooked opportunities in our 1,500+ coverage universe built since 2009.

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This week, we decided to focus on posting a special video newsletter edition, featuring highlights from the past month’s events. 

We ended the month with an amazing chat with Abinand Rangesh, CEO of Tecogen Inc. (NYSE:TGEN), with an all-time Skull Session record attendance of 81 unique viewers. 

We’ve included a complementary clip of this conversation, later in this Weekly Wrap-Up post.

A couple days prior to that conversation, I recorded a walk down memory lane chat with Michael Pruitt, founder of the Co/Investor Club (@CoInvestorClub1). Make sure you follow their work here and opt in to receive their weekly emails on the market, deal flow opportunities, and investing. 

I’ll also have a summary of our conversation, but here’s a quick look at Michael Pruitt

We also included an Acorn Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACFN) video clip from the July Monthly Open Forum event held on July 9, 2025, where we said: 

As you all know, I love ACFN. I think it might be one of our focus stocks. The monitoring service is a recurring revenue that happens every month. The big telecom contract they got in August of last year, which they started executing towards the end of last year, has been a key driver. Deployment has been smooth, and there are still more tower sites to cover for this customer. Jan Loeb said, ‘Everyone thinks we’re going to fall off a cliff. Well, I don’t. We’re not.’ He basically was telling everybody that you’re all wrong about this; this is just not a one-time thing. I do expect more good things, potentially more revenue from the current customer as they deploy, maybe more contracts. I still own the stock, though there could be some lumpiness here and there once they get through this contract. Also, they’re paying taxes now… so, you know, the year-to-year comps might look bad on the EPS basis because of that, but the company explains that well. I would probably be a buyer of the stock if it fell based on that misinformation.

Ehem.. ACFN has risen 71% since the July Forum.

(by the way, this is why we encourage you to be on our open forums live or promptly listen to the recordings/clips on our premium portal)

Hopefully, that will whet your palate as we gear up for August’s Live Open Monthly Forum, where we plan on delivering more information arbitrage.

Finally, on the video front, we added some clips from three in-depth Investor Insight sessions we hosted in July:

• Thomas Niel (@realThomasNiel), author of the Value Never Sleeps Substack
• Lee Roach (@leevalueroach), author of The Value Road Substack
• Charles Hutchison (@charlesbhutch), a Geoinvesting subscriber, pitched Hydreight Technologies Inc (OTCQB:HYDTF) (CVE:NURS)
  

With regard to news on stocks we cover in our microcap universe, our morning emails highlighted earnings from MUEL, CRAWA, SPOK, CNO.V (CANOF), ATGN, and ARE.TO (AEGXF).

As we expected, Mueller (paul) Co. (OOTC:MUEL) posted a fantastic quarter of growth in sales and earnings, while it saw its backlog remain at healthy levels. 

• Q2 sales of $72.6 million vs. $65.7 million in the prior year
• Q2 EPS: $12.50 vs. $7.26 in the prior year
• Backlog increased to $234.2 million at June 30, 2025, from $187.3 million a year earlier, with the U.S. backlog rising $42.4 million year-over-year, driven mainly by pharmaceutical customer demand in the Industrial Equipment segment. The backlog was slightly down sequentially from record Q1 levels of $254.5 million.

With the current earnings momentum intact, we still believe that the company can make a run for $1,000, helped along by a continued expansion in the company’s valuation multiples.

As far as “not as expected,” Crawford United Corporation (OOTC:CRAWA) posted a surprisingly strong quarter:

• Q2 sales of $46.8 million vs $37.6 million in the prior year
• Q2 EPS: $1.44 vs $0.92 in the prior year

If this EPS quarter was actually a breakout quarter, it is telling because the last several quarters have hung around $0.85 to $1.11.

We’re starting to wonder if its HVAC segment is quietly benefiting from data center demand. However, this appears to be a stretch. We found no clear evidence that Crawford is selling cooling systems directly for data center infrastructure. Their commercial air handling focus seems to align more closely with buildings and process control environments that may have higher margins and require custom HVAC engineering.

The growth could be coming from the company’s recent acquisitions, finally starting to contribute without a disproportionate increase in expenses. This means that earnings might be able to experience nice growth with only small increases in revenue. By the way, we didn’t break down any stats relating to organic versus organic growth. 

Even at the current EPS run rate, CRAWA could have a pathway to approaching $100 per share in a short period of time, if it trades at a P/E of 15x (current P/E is 12x). Shares currently trade at around $53. There was a time when the company wanted to up-list to a major exchange. We’re wondering if the Board will revisit that goal.

Spok Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPOK) continued to report strong profitability with a clean balance sheet, supporting its ability to maintain a high dividend payout policy. Over at California Nanotechnologies Cor (OOTC:CANOF) (CVE:CNO), it was a reset quarter after its largest customer paused orders, but the rebuild toward a more diversified base is underway.

We also circled back to Altigen Communications, Inc. (OTCQB:ATGN), which has still not been able to prove it can grow its cloud communication revenue, although its more boring IT business is showing some promise. Aecon Group Inc. (OOTC:AEGXF) (TSX:ARE) is hanging in there as it continues to work through low-margin legacy construction projects. Here’s what we said:

Altigen Communications, Inc. (OTCQB:ATGN), Q3 2025:

Aecon Group Inc. (OOTC:AEGXF) (TSX:ARE)Q2 2025:

Now on to the video highlights…

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July 2025 Open Forum – Maj Shares His Bull Case and Views on Follow-On Contract Potential (ACFN)

Responding to a Geoinvesting subscriber’s question, I outlined my bullish view on Acorn Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACFN), especially its remote monitoring solutions for telecom backup power. I noted the importance of a major ongoing deployment with a wireless telecom customer and hints at follow-on revenue potential. Drawing on recent management commentary, I explained why the fears of a post-contract revenue cliff may be misplaced, due to comments the CEO made at @BobbyKKraft/@MicroCapClub Vegas conference on April 23, 2025. We also view ACFN as an eventual acquisition candidate.

Missed the full forum? Catch the rest of the insights right here

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The Weekly Wrap-Up is meant for those in a hurry, along with those who want to spend a weekend hunting for ideas or quickly catch up what we talked about during the week. Our Weekly Wrap-Up brings together everything we discussed during the week in our morning emails and premium alerts, as well as new information and high conviction ideas that we did not communicate that you should know about. From earnings coverage, new research coverage on stocks, picks and research from our subscribers to event highlights from our monthly open forum that takes place to the beginning of each month and interviews with management teams and investors. Missed any emails this week? You can catch up on all of them in one place — just check out the full archive here.

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Investor Insights Skull Session Feature Of The Week

Michael Pruitt: Paying Forward By Building A Portfolio Around People, Not “Picks”

My Investor Insight Skull Session conversation this week was with Michael Pruitt, founder of the Co/Investor Club and someone I’ve been meaning to talk to in this format for a while. He’s done just about everything in the investing world, from running public companies to backing private deals to building a microcap value fund from scratch.

We covered a lot: his baseball days, early Buffett influence, the hits he took in 2008, and how he’s now focused on curating ideas and backing strong operators through his growing investor network. 

What really stuck with me, though, was how personal the whole journey has been. It started with a scholarship donation in honor of a college teammate, which led him back to a finance professor who handed him a Buffett book. 

Not long after, a round of golf with Lou Holtz (yes, that Lou Holtz) nudged him to go deeper. Years later, he’s launching a microcap fund with two Coastal Carolina grads who impressed him so much, he built a track record around them.

That fund didn’t just survive 2008, it thrived. But it wasn’t easy. At one point, Michael thought seriously about shutting it down. He even offered his two analysts equity if they were willing to take a pay cut. When they told him they couldn’t afford rent, he pulled from reserves and kept things going. Looking back, he called that moment “a turning point.” And not long after, the returns showed up.

What I respect about Michael’s approach now is that he’s chosen to be a connector. These days, he spends more time finding people he trusts and backing them with capital than chasing ideas on his own. As he said, he’d “rather find really smart guys and invest alongside them than rebuild an entire operation.” That kind of humility and confidence is pretty rare in this game. 

We also talked about AI’s role in investing today. Like me, Michael sees the potential but is cautious about relying on it without question. What he really stressed, and I agree, is that AI is only as good as the process behind it. “If you feed a bad process into AI, you’ll still get bad picks,” he said. When it comes to microcaps, where leadership often makes all the difference, he’s clear on one thing: you still can gain an edge by meeting the team. There’s no substitute for good judgment.

Michael’s network has grown from just a few hundred people to over 5,500. He doesn’t treat it like a typical mailing list. He uses it to share ideas, connect investors with fund managers, and support up-and-coming analysts and interns, just like he always has.

If there’s one clear takeaway from his story, it’s the value of staying curious and keeping close to people who push you to think better. Whether you’re just starting out or have been at it for decades, that mindset never gets old.

Watch the full conversation here.

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Investor Insights Skull Session #1 Rewind – Thomas Niel Shares His Journey: From Accounting to Value Never Sleeps

Thomas Niel, private investor and founder of Value Never Sleeps, recounts his unique path into the investing world. Starting his career as an accountant, Thomas explains how his professional background shaped his analytical approach. He also discusses his evolution into financial writing, including his contributions to Seeking Alpha. This segment offers a foundational look at the voice behind the @realThomasNiel Twitter account.

Watch the full video here

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Investor Insights Skull Session #2 Rewind – How Private Investor Lee Roach Got Started—From The Intelligent Investor to Seeking Alpha

In this clip, Lee Roach shares how he became interested in investing, beginning with his discovery of Benjamin Graham’s The Intelligent Investor at a thrift store. He reflects on how the book influenced his thinking despite not understanding it at first, and how his early investing journey included losses in tech and green energy before transitioning to more traditional value plays. He also discusses his brief experience contributing articles to Seeking Alpha and why he eventually chose to write independently through his Substack newsletter.

Watch the full video here

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Investor Insights Skull Session #3 Rewind – Charles Hutchison discussed Hydreight Technologies Inc (TSXV:NURS)

Charles Hutchison discussed $HYDTF (TSXV:NURS), a 50-state medical company with three verticals. The first two are profitable, expected to generate $20 million in Canadian revenue this year. The third vertical, VSH1, allows direct-to-consumer telehealth businesses, with a $200 monthly licensing fee per state. Hydreight aims to onboard 150,000 orders monthly from big direct-to-consumer businesses, targeting $1.3 million in Q3. The nursing and white label verticals also contribute significantly. Hydreight’s success depends on migrating these businesses and managing compliance risks. The company recently raised funds and plans a pharmacy acquisition to improve margins.

Sign in or join today to watch the full video.

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Management Briefing – Why Licensing Could Unlock Major Value for Tecogen (TGEN): CEO Dr. Abinand Rangesh on Strategic Pathways

Rangesh outlines strategic monetization options: licensing the chiller technology to OEMs, being acquired at a premium by a hyperscaler, or scaling manufacturing internally. He emphasizes that demand exceeding supply is key to unlocking high-margin, high-valuation scenarios.

More clips are available on the portal. Here’s a summary of them:

• Tecogen (TGEN) CEO Dr. Abinand Rangesh on How Natural Gas Cooling Frees Up Power for Data Center IT Loads [7/31/2025 Clip Rewind]
• Tecogen (TGEN)’s Built-In Emissions System: CEO Dr. Abinand Rangesh on a Hidden Competitive Edge [7/31/2025 Clip Rewind]
• Why Licensing Could Unlock Major Value for Tecogen (TGEN): CEO Dr. Abinand Rangesh on Strategic Pathways [7/31/2025 Clip Rewind]
• Cutting Through the AI Noise: How Tecogen (TGEN) Is Positioning Itself for Growth [7/31/2025 Clip Rewind]
• CEO Dr. Abinand Rangesh on Tecogen (TGEN)’s Modular Data Center Strategy [7/31/2025 Clip Rewind]
• Tecogen (TGEN) Is Selling Beyond Vertiv: CEO Dr. Abinand Rangesh on the Broader Go-To-Market Push [7/31/2025 Clip Rewind]
• From Projects to Profitability: How Tecogen (TGEN) Plans to Scale in the Data Center Space [7/31/2025 Clip Rewind]
• CEO Dr. Abinand Rangesh on Tecogen (TGEN)’s Connecticut Power Deal and Where That Segment Still Fits [7/31/2025 Clip Rewind]
• Tecogen (TGEN) Shifts Focus from Acquired Contracts to Organic Growth [7/31/2025 Clip Rewind]
• Tecogen (TGEN) CEO Dr. Abinand Rangesh on Staying Focused During a Critical Strategic Window [7/31/2025 Clip Rewind]
• CEO Dr. Abinand Rangesh Explains How Tecogen (TGEN) Is Fortifying Its Supply Chain [7/31/2025 Clip Rewind]
• CEO Dr. Abinand Rangesh on Why Tecogen (TGEN)’s Model Isn’t Exposed to Natural Gas Price Volatility [7/31/2025 Clip Rewind]

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If you enjoy performing press release research or think you will see value in a tool that expedites your press release research process, you should check out a press release tool my team is building by going here.

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The post A Walk Down Memory Lane With Founder Of Co/Investor Club Michael Pruitt + TGEN & More July Investor Clips [GeoWire Weekly No. 198] | 🇺🇸 ACFN, MUEL, CRAWA, SPOK, ATGN 🇨🇦 CNO.V, ARE.TO, NURS.V appeared first on GeoInvesting.

Source: https://geoinvesting.com/a-walk-down-memory-lane-with-founder-of-co-investor-club-michael-pruitt-tgen-more-july-investor-clips-geowire-weekly-no-198/