New York, June 3, 2026, 17:06 (EDT)
Arq, Inc. shares dropped 4.6% to $2.60 late Wednesday in U.S. trading. Around 240,000 shares traded. That’s a steeper decline than the iShares Russell 2000 ETF, which fell 1.4%. $2.60 marked the session low for Arq.
Arq shares slipped as the market stayed soft, but investors’ concerns are clear: they want more details on Arq’s granular activated carbon, or GAC, business. GAC is used in filtration to strip out contaminants. Arq said it’s still working on the process design, figuring out capital needs, and looking at timing. The company is aiming to have a new plan in place for the third quarter of 2026.
GAC is the growth project Arq has put on hold and wants to revise, not just some side operation. Arq turns a profit in powdered activated carbon, or PAC, which is used in treatment, but the key issue for its valuation is if GAC can scale up without spending more cash than expected.
The stock got little help from the wider market. Wall Street finished lower on Wednesday, Reuters said, as rising oil and tension in the Middle East pushed up inflation fears. Small caps underperformed.
Finance leadership is changing at Arq. The company named Shimon Steinmetz, 48, as executive vice president and CFO, according to a May 27 SEC filing. Steinmetz starts on or before July 27. Arq also said Chief Accounting Officer and Treasurer Stacia Hansen will exit her job on June 12.
CEO Bob Rasmus said Steinmetz offers “hands-on financial leadership.” Steinmetz said he wants to “strengthen Arq’s financial foundation,” which lines up with what the company needs right now: manage cash, wrap up the GAC review, and hold the core PAC business steady. Arq
Arq posted mixed results in its latest update. Revenue for the first quarter came in at $29.1 million, up from $27.2 million last year. But the company reported a net loss of $0.8 million, a change from net income of $0.2 million a year ago. Adjusted EBITDA dropped to $2.7 million from $4.1 million. Arq kept its 2026 guidance for revenue between $120 million and $125 million, and adjusted EBITDA in the $17 million to $20 million range.
Rasmus described the quarter as a “solid foundation,” but flagged a March inventory revaluation and GAC carry-over costs that weighed on margins. He said the GAC review was “moving with urgency,” but the company still needs time to lock in a working design, set the construction and production schedule and finalize costs. Arq
Competition isn’t slowing down. Ingevity sells powdered activated carbon to the water, food, beverage and chemical purification markets. Kuraray’s Calgon Carbon unit announced in February it would boost reactivated-carbon capacity by 12,300 tons a year at its Columbus, Ohio facility. That puts extra pressure on Arq’s timing and cost estimates.
Regulation still drives demand, but it’s not straightforward. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency lists GAC among top tech for PFAS cleanup in drinking water, the so-called “forever chemicals.” But a May 20 Federal Register proposal would roll back parts of the PFAS drinking-water rule for some chemicals, keeping rules for PFOA and PFOS as is. US EPA
The GAC review could mean a bigger bill, slower ramp, or financing at worse terms. Arq’s annual filing flagged risks around fixing design issues and ramping up GAC output. The filing said more financing might be needed, and the company isn’t expecting significant GAC revenue in fiscal 2026.
Arq shares are moving mostly on execution risk, not new headlines. Investors are waiting for the CFO switch, the accounting office change, and the third-quarter GAC plan. Until those hit, Arq stays a smaller, cheaper stock that’s closely linked to project schedules and how it manages its balance sheet.
