Altair Nanotechnologies, Inc.: Charging toward a future of small particles

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Nanotechnology is still a business of the future. Although great strides have been made in creating the technology of the ultra small, very few commercial products have yet made any money for their developers. Altair Nanotechnologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALTI) is a case in point. The Reno, Nev.-based company has so far delivered just 61 products — lithium ion batteries for electric cars — and those cars have yet to hit the market.

But the company has several development contracts and joint ventures with big corporations in the works, including paint maker Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE: SHW) and drug makers Eli Lilly & Co. (NYSE: LLY) and Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: SPPI). If those ventures play out successfully, its tiny particles could prove to have a very big future.

Altair was founded in 1973 under the name Diversified Mines Limited, acquiring and exploring mineral properties. For three decades it was a lackluster business. So in late 2003 it restructured with an eye on the future of Nanoparticles. CTO Bruce Sabacky, who has been with Altair since 1999, the year the company went public, began developing products based on nanomaterials.

In 2004 the company brought in a new CEO, Alan Gotcher, from Avery Dennison Corporation (NYSE: AVY), where he had led the development and commercialization of the “Duracell On-Cell” tester for the popular batteries. He has been moving the company’s new technology into commercial products.

From a peak of nearly $8 per share in 2000, the stock dropped to penny stock territory by mid-2003. It has steadily recovered since then, closing at $4.43 on Monday, with a market cap of $312 million, and is now flirting with the low end of analysts' targets. Three brokers polled by Thomson/First Call have price targets ranging from $5 to $6. Its 52-week high is $5.45, reached in October, and the low was $2.48, reached in January.

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