EXCLUSIVE: POET CFO Calls Short Sellers ‘Maggots’ – Dismisses Wolfpack Tax-Day Fears As ‘Nothing Burger’

• POET stock jumped over 18% on Monday, posting its strongest intraday gain in nearly five months, recovering from last week’s Wolfpack Research short-seller report.
• Wolfpack’s primary allegation was that POET’s status as a Passive Foreign Investment Company would create a “tax nightmare” for US shareholders. 
• POET Technologies CFO Thomas Mika told Stocktwits the company was in a net loss position, meaning there was nothing to declare, and making the warning “a big nothing burger.”

POET Technologies (POET) chief financial officer Thomas Mika pushed back against short seller Wolfpack Research in an exclusive interview with Stocktwits, calling them “maggots” and accusing them of trying to unsettle shareholders ahead of tax day.

“Well, I hate shorts. I don't discriminate. I think they're all maggots,” Mika told Stocktwits’ Michele Steele in an interview. “And I think that alarming shareholders right prior to tax day was just typical of shorts, but not a very good thing to do, frankly.”

Last week, the short-seller firm Wolfpack Research published a report alleging that POET Technologies was “an obvious stock promotion.” It stated that the company had made seven business pivots while generating just $2.3 million in cumulative revenue since 2020, and warned U.S. shareholders of a looming IRS “collision course” if they held shares past the April 15 tax deadline.

“They called us a promote company, which we’re not. We’re a real company with real products. I just don’t think they understand that in the technology space, it takes a lot for a company to get started and face the challenges that we have faced over the past 10 years.”  — Thomas Mika, CFO, POET Technologies

Wolfpack’s PFIC Tax Claim Was A ‘Nothing Burger’

Wolfpack’s allegations over taxes struck the most alarmist chord. It warned that POET’s accumulation of cash through share dilution could make it a Passive Foreign Investment Company (PFIC), triggering complex IRS compliance requirements and punitive tax rates for U.S. shareholders. It was timed to come out right before Tax Day on April 15. 

“I think it scared a lot of people unnecessarily because the bottom line with that is that since we were in a net loss position, there was nothing to declare for our U.S. shareholders,” Mika explained. “So it was a big nothing burger. And I think the reaction of the market shows that.”

POET’s stock rose more than 5% in pre-market trade on Tuesday, after jumping over 18% on Monday, posting its strongest intraday gain in nearly five months and recovery from the short seller dip. It was among the top trending tickers on Stocktwits at the time of writing. Retail sentiment on Stocktwits around the company continued to trend in ‘bullish’ territory over the past day, while chatter rose to ‘extremely high’ from ‘high’ levels. 

POET has since confirmed it will provide the data necessary for shareholders to file a QEF election for 2025, effectively neutralizing the PFIC risk going forward. The company is also redomiciling its headquarters to the U.S.

POET’s Pivot Criticism

Wolfpack’s second main attack was the pivot count. The firm characterized POET’s journey from solar to photonics to AI optical components as evidence of serial strategy failure. 

Mika offered the company’s current product line as counter-evidence. He stated that POET now holds a $5 million production order for its 800G optical engines and has invoices from Celestial AI, which was acquired by Marvell Technology (MRVL) earlier this year.

POET's stock has gained nearly 30% year-to-date and more than doubled in value over the last 12 months.

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