Making Fresh Profitable: BUDA’s Ultra-Fresh Strategy & IPO and Weekly Coverage Highlights [GeoWire Weekly No. 224] | 🇺🇸 BUDA USAQ TXRP BOF CODA RWWI FSI CXDO ATGN CDTI OCC ZDPY 🇨🇦 DRX.TO CNO.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.

Summary Of What’s In This Weekly Wrap-Up

This week’s coverage focused on our Skull Session with Buda Juice, Inc. (NYSE:BUDA) following its recent IPO. The CEO/co-founder shared insights on scaling fresh juice brands nationally, expanding distribution, and maintaining profitability while managing supply chain and operational challenges. The discussion highlighted early revenue traction, customer expansion, and capital spend decisions that the company hopes will drive long-term growth.

We usually don’t look at IPO’s in microcap land. So many tend to be too aggressively priced or are losing money. We generally would like to wait to see how things play out after the company goes public. However, BUDA caught our attention because it’s actually making money, and beverage companies, in general, are known to post mountains of losses as they chase revenue and market share.

To be clear, BUDA is not without risk. The company faces customer concentration and geographic concentration risk. There’s also going to be execution risk on how the company deploys proceeds received from the IPO, mostly to expand its manufacturing footprint. Our goal is to track the company’s progress to see if they use that money wisely to diversify the customer base and expand operations outside their southern exposure, mainly Texas, to the East and West Coast.

Oh, and I do plan on doing a little Peter Lynch reconnaissance and trying a bunch of their products the next time I’m in Texas (maybe visiting Tss, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSSI) new facility), because they don’t currently have any product in Puerto Rico or Florida. However, that’s probably going to change soon.

BUDA joins another beverage company we’re closely monitoring, Equator Beverage Company (OTCQB:MOJO). For those of you who are new premium subscribers to Geoinvesting, MOJO is a small, methodically growing coconut beverage company run by an experienced industry veteran. The company just cracked $1 million for multiple quarters, which is an important milestone for them, and has been slightly profitable, or around break-even, for the last few quarters. You can watch our October 2023 fireside skull session with CEO at this link.

More highlights include:

• Qhslab Inc (OTCQB:USAQ) reported preliminary 2025 results alongside balance sheet improvements and early reimbursement activity.
• Tx Rail Products, Inc. (OOTC:TXRP) lifted its annual earnings run rate following strong Q1 2026 performance.
• Branchout Food Inc. (NASDAQ:BOF) released preliminary Q4 and full-year sales figures tied to new retailer and club wins.
• Coda Octopus Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CODA) delivered strong Q4 and full-year results supported by growing defense exposure.
• Rand Worldwide, Inc. (OOTC:RWWI) reported sharply higher year-over-year earnings in Q2 2026.
• Flexible Solutions International (NYSE:FSI) began production at its Panama facility, shifting international manufacturing.
• Crexendo, Inc. (NASDAQ:CXDO) entered a licensing agreement with Altigen Communications, Inc. (OTCQB:ATGN) around a new communications platform.
• Adf Group Inc. (OOTC:ADFJF) (TSX:DRX) secured a large multi-region contract win, expanding its backlog.
• California Nanotechnologies Cor (OOTC:CANOF) (TSXV:CNO) continues to face commercial revenue delays, though new order visibility hints at upside later in 2026.
• Cdti Advanced Materials, Inc. (OOTC:CDTI) and Optical Cable Corporation (NASDAQ:OCC) showed potential information arbitrage from recent operational activity.
• Zoned Properties, Inc. (OTCQB:ZDPY) was removed from all model portfolios following a definitive asset sale agreement.

At the end of every weekly wrap-up, we now include the biggest price performance winners and losers, as well as 52-week highs and lows. We then highlight the ones we think are most worth watching.

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Earnings and Research Updates

Qhslab Inc (OTCQB:USAQ), a digital-health and medical-device company, continues to methodically reposition itself, announcing preliminary 2025 results with 25% sales growth and a gross margin of 67, up from 64% the prior year. The real story is on the balance sheet: convertible debt was reduced from ~$2 million to just ~$20,000, and interest expense is expected to fall by $200K annually. Management also stated Q-Cog Sales should accelerate. If we bake in this sales acceleration with relatively flat opex and reducing interest expense, we think the stock will probably pivot into net income profitability in the upcoming quarters. However, preferred shares could potentially cause significant dilution by increasing the share count by ~8 million (USAQ had 13.4M common shares as of January 6, 2026).

Tx Rail Products, Inc. (OOTC:TXRP), a provider of rail products and mining supplies, posted a strong Q1, with sales up 72% to $3.6 million and EPS reaching $0.01, compared with $0.00 the prior year. This marks its first meaningful bottom-line figure since we added the stock to Geoinvesting’s Run to One Dollar Model Portfolio in July 2024 and interviewed the CEO in October 2024. This quarter doesn’t even include the expected capital infusion from a recent raise, which should support more hiring and inventory to meet rising demand.

Branchout Food Inc. (NASDAQ:BOF), a producer of dehydrated fruit & vegetable snacks, had a big week of news. Q4 2025 revenue surged 180% to $4.2 million, and full-year revenue more than doubled to ~$14 million. BOF secured a ~$2 million initial order from Sam’s Club, which could scale to $15 million annually. This complements an existing development program with Walmart for up to nine SKUs, targeting a 2H 2026 launch that could generate $10 million in annual revenue. Costco remains in the mix too.

Margins, however, remain an issue. Full-year gross margin was just ~16%, dragged down by air freight and tariffs. Management expects those costs to fade and is projecting a rebound to ~25% normalized margins in 2026. High-margin ingredient sales and automation investments could support that. The company also locked in a $1.5 million working capital loan and has an ATM in place. We’re kind of perplexed that the company keeps filing ATMs, given the progress they are making and the financial support they already have. So far, the company has executed on a lot of its goals it has outlined; however, it has yet to reach its cash flow and profitability goals. We’re going to have to watch that closely. That being said, the stock is up 69% since the CEO presented the company’s growth plan at the microcap investing Cliff Note virtual conference.

Coda Octopus Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CODA), a developer of underwater imaging and subsea technology systems, delivered a strong Q4 and FY2025, beating analyst expectations on both revenue and EPS. Q4 2025 revenue came in at $7.3M vs. $5.1M in Q4 2024 and ahead of the $6.5M analyst estimate. EPS was $0.09 vs. $0.03 a year ago, exceeding the $0.07 forecast. FY2025 revenue rose 31% to $26.6M from $20.3M and surpassed the $25.8M consensus. EPS increased to $0.37 from $0.32, above the $0.34 estimate. 

More importantly, the company is starting to deliver on its Diver Augmented Vision Display (DAVD) program, shipping 16 untethered systems to the U.S. Navy and completing a key prerequisite for broader adoption. That system is now undergoing Authorization for Navy Use (ANU), a potential game-changer.

Management also launched its Nano Gen Series sonar, targeted at AI-enabled autonomous underwater vehicles, and driving growth in recurring, program-based revenue tied to long-term defense contracts.

Rand Worldwide, Inc. (OOTC:RWWI), a provider of engineering design software, training, and tech solutions, delivered another strong quarter, with Q2 2026 EPS up nearly 100% year-over-year to $0.60 from $0.32, and sales climbing to $62.8 million from $43.8 million. That puts trailing 12-month EPS at $1.69, meaning the stock still trades at just 9.4x earnings.

California Nanotechnologies Cor (OOTC:CANOF) (TSXV:CNO), a nanomaterials & advanced processing equipment company, continues to face execution delays, with Q3 2026 revenue dropping sharply to just $392K vs $1.8 million the prior year, due to the loss of a research and development customer, as the company is concurrently trying to finally generate commercial customer revenue. While they’re now pushing into military brakes and nuclear/fusion markets, the cash balance has fallen to $341K. Management is evaluating debt financing, which could be risky without a clear path to profitability. This is especially concerning, since the company just recently paid down all of its legacy debt, an accomplishment it was clearly excited about.

We like the CEO’s hustle and expansion on commercial contracts, but the next few quarters need to show real traction, or dilution could be on the table.

Flexible Solutions International (NYSE:FSI), a specialty chemicals company, announced that its Panama facility is now operational and producing the company’s legacy agricultural and polymer products. The transition frees up capacity at the company’s Illinois plant, which will now focus more heavily on its new higher margin and more predictable food-grade offerings.

While the move took longer than expected, this restructuring should reduce volatility in legacy international margins and could support growth in higher-margin categories.

Altigen Communications, Inc. (OTCQB:ATGN), a provider of business VoIP phone systems and unified communications, will now license Crexendo, Inc. (NASDAQ:CXDO)’s NetSapiens Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) platform in a deal that could significantly enhance its offerings. The deal enables Altigen to leverage Crexendo’s cloud-based platform to deliver modern, scalable communications solutions while Crexendo focuses on platform innovation.

I recorded a podclip earlier this week breaking down why this move matters and how it could reshape ATGN’s trajectory longer-term. In a nutshell, ATGN spent years trying to develop its own cloud UCaaS platform and was just stuck in the bottom of the ninth inning for too long. This was probably causing its legacy customer base, that were being promised a new platform, to get impatient or choose another UCaaS provider. We believe ATGN made the right move here, however, it now means the company does not own its own UCaaS platform, which I guess could influence the stock’s valuation.

Adf Group Inc. (OOTC:ADFJF) (TSX:DRX), a structural-steel fabrication & construction services company, landed a C$140 million contract win, equivalent to more than a quarter’s worth of revenue. These new contracts bring the backlog to ~C$637 million and support ADF’s ongoing return to Canadian work after a U.S.-heavy revenue mix brought tariff headaches.

Cdti Advanced Materials, Inc. (OOTC:CDTI), a catalyst tech & emissions-control solutions company, and Optical Cable Corporation (NASDAQ:OCC), a manufacturer of fiber-optic and copper data-communications cabling, may be seeing early signs of traction based on some recent LinkedIn activity. CDTI appears to be rolling out methane abatement solutions tied to data centers, while OCC continues to promote its partnership with Lightera.

Lastly, we officially removed Zoned Properties, Inc. (OTCQB:ZDPY), a real-estate firm targeting emerging & regulated industries, from all model portfolios after the company entered into a going-private transaction. They’ve hinted at a future reverse merger, but we’re stepping aside for now. If something interesting happens post-deal, we’ll reassess.

Now, onto our Skull Sessions this week with Buda Juice, Inc. (NYSE:BUDA) CEO Horatio Lonsdale-Hands.

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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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Skull Sessions

In our fireside chat with Buda Juice, Inc. (NYSE:BUDA) CEO Horatio Lonsdale-Hands, we covered a lot of ground, from the company’s quirky champagne-club roots to its latest efforts scaling cold-chain juice nationwide. BUDA recently went public on the NYSE and, unlike most nano-cap IPOs, is already profitable. That’s rare in food and beverage.

The story began in a single Plano, TX coffee shop, where Lonsdale-Hands tested if consumers would pay $14+ for organic juice. When they did, he and his team opened 18 branded retail stores, envisioning a “Starbucks for juice”. COVID and logistical challenges forced them to restructure their business model: retail gave way to wholesale, and profits followed.

BUDA’s fresh product line, now split into three categories (Buda Juice shots, Buda Fresh lemonades/citrus, and white label), is stocked in H-E-B, Costco, and most recently Kroger. The company’s edge is its cold-chain infrastructure and proprietary “cold craft” extraction method, which it uses instead of cold-pressing to preserve taste and shelf life without pasteurization. Everything stays below 35°F from orchard to store shelf.

While shots were the entry point to H-E-B and Costco, the larger opportunity now lies in citrus and lemonade products which are mass market, multi-use, and with stronger unit economics. Gross margins are already hovering around 45%, and labor cost per ounce has dropped over the years from ~$0.10 to just over $0.01 due to automation and scale.

BUDA’s plan now is to expand manufacturing beyond Texas. A second facility on the East Coast is the next step, with a third likely to follow out West. The company isn’t building on speculation, it plans to have distribution commitments in hand first. That discipline extends to marketing too: Lonsdale-Hands says the product is its own best pitch to grocers, many of whom are looking for fresh solutions that differentiate them from Amazon’s home delivery stronghold.

BUDA’s current Texas facility is expected to reach approximately $55 million in annual revenue capacity once all upgrades are completed, and each additional facility should contribute a similar amount. At the time of the IPO, the company already had about $2 million in cash on hand and was generating positive cash flow. The decision to go public was driven by a desire to increase visibility and accelerate growth while staying profitable. Management does not currently expect to raise additional capital.

If BUDA can pull this off, adding capacity with customer demand already lined up and staying profitable while doing it, it may carve out a unique corner of the grocery shelf that’s not just buzzword “fresh,” but what the company is calling “Ultra-Fresh.” And they’re hoping to make that term a true category.

If you missed the live event, the full replay is now available on GeoInvesting portal.

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Weekly Performance Stats From The Microcap Universe

A useful research resource for identifying potentially undervalued momentum stocks and beaten-down names that may rebound over time. Tickers highlighted in green are the ones we find most interesting.

Biggest Single-Day Movers of the Week

These are stocks that recorded the strongest one-day move (up or down) during the week.

• Largest Single-Day Gainers

• Largest Single-Day Losers

Weekly Top Gainers and Losers

These are the top 10 stocks with the largest overall gains and losses for the entire week.

• Top 10 Gainers – Weekly (January 26 – January 30, 2026)

• Top 10 Losers – Weekly (January 26 – January 30, 2026)

New 52-Week Highs and Lows

These are stocks that reached new 52-week highs or lows during the week.

• New 52-Week Highs

• New 52-Week Lows

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The post Making Fresh Profitable: BUDA’s Ultra-Fresh Strategy & IPO and Weekly Coverage Highlights [GeoWire Weekly No. 224] | 🇺🇸 BUDA USAQ TXRP BOF CODA RWWI FSI CXDO ATGN CDTI OCC ZDPY 🇨🇦 DRX.TO CNO.V appeared first on GeoInvesting.

Source: https://geoinvesting.com/making-fresh-profitable-budas-ultra-fresh-strategy-ipo-and-weekly-coverage-highlights-geowire-weekly-no-224/