Forward Industries — one of the largest Solana treasuries — said Thursday it has repurchased more than 6 million of its own shares for $27.4 million from an institutional investor, shrinking its outstanding common stock by roughly 7.4%.
The buyback was financed with a $40 million crypto-backed loan from Galaxy Digital, secured by staked SOL held in Forward’s treasury. The firm said the transaction was privately negotiated and falls under a previously approved $1 billion share repurchase program authorized by its board in November.
“We’re always looking for opportunities to increase SOL-per-share accretion for shareholders,” Forward’s Chief Investment Officer Ryan Navi told Decrypt, adding that the firm monitors when private investors or institutions want to sell blocks of shares or SOL. He said Forward “routinely assesses market conditions to determine what the best risk-adjusted path is to drive SOL-per-share accretion.”
Why buybacks instead of adding more SOL?
Digital-asset treasuries commonly favor share repurchases when the market price of their stock trades at a steep discount to net asset value (NAV). By buying its own shares cheaply, a treasury can effectively add more crypto exposure per remaining share than it could by buying tokens directly on the open market. Forward’s investment team argued this is a more efficient, risk-adjusted way to grow SOL-per-share when FWDI is trading well below NAV — an approach similar to other treasuries such as SharpLink, which has set conditions for when it will repurchase ETH.
Where Forward stands now
Forward currently holds more than 7 million SOL, which the company values at about $614 million. The firm initially burst onto the scene last fall with a marquee purchase of 6.8 million SOL for roughly $1.58 billion — an average cost near $232 per token. With Solana trading around $88.86, Forward’s SOL position is deeply underwater: blockchain analytics firm Artemis estimates Forward has more than $1.1 billion in unrealized losses, putting it among the largest loss-makers in the digital-treasury cohort.
The company is also cutting costs: Forward said it expects some operating expenses to fall by as much as 45% during Q1.
Market reaction and stock performance
FWDI shares ended Thursday down about 0.7% at $4.95, having tumbled more than 83% over the past six months. The stock remains down roughly 89% from its September peak of $46.
What this move signals
The buyback, funded by a loan collateralized by staked SOL, underscores how crypto treasuries are increasingly using financial engineering to manage balance sheets and pursue NAV-accretion strategies in a depressed market. For Forward, repurchasing discounted shares appears to be a chosen lever to boost SOL-per-share, even as the firm grapples with sizable paper losses on its early, large SOL purchases.
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