Stardust Power Holds $0.5 Million Cash as Muskogee Bill Looms

Stardust Power Inc (NASDAQ: SDST) told investors on its fiscal Q2 2026 earnings call that it ended the quarter with $0.5 million in cash and posted a $3.9 million net loss, while CEO Roshan Pujari said work continues on construction financing, a Department of Energy partnership and site development for the company's planned Muskogee, Oklahoma lithium refinery.

Stardust Power Inc (NASDAQ: SDST) used its fiscal second-quarter 2026 earnings call to make the case that its planned lithium refinery in Muskogee, Oklahoma is moving forward. The balance sheet made a different point. Chief executive Roshan Pujari walked investors through construction financing discussions, a partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy and progress on site development. The chief financial officer then reported cash of $0.5 million and a net loss of $3.9 million for the quarter.

Those two numbers, sitting next to each other, define the entire investment question. A quarterly loss nearly eight times the size of the cash balance is not a working-capital problem that gets solved by tightening spending. It means the company's ability to keep advancing Muskogee is a direct function of its ability to raise money — from lenders, from federal programs, from strategic partners, or from the equity market.

The arithmetic of a $0.5 million cash balance

Lithium refineries are among the more capital-intensive assets in the battery supply chain. They require permitted industrial land, process engineering, long-lead equipment orders and a workforce trained on chemical handling — costs incurred years before the first tonne of battery-grade lithium is sold. A company carrying half a million dollars of cash is not in a position to fund that from its own resources at any scale.

What the reported figures do tell you is the pace of the burn. A $3.9 million net loss in a single quarter, against $0.5 million of cash at quarter-end, means the company was consuming multiples of its remaining balance every three months. Net loss is not identical to cash burn — it can include non-cash items such as stock compensation, fair-value adjustments and impairments, which flatter or worsen the headline without touching the bank account. But the direction is unambiguous, and the company's own reference to a Nasdaq compliance review, as reported by GuruFocus, underlines that the market is treating the shares as a distressed situation rather than a development-stage story trading on milestones.

Why the DOE relationship is the swing factor

Pujari's emphasis on the Department of Energy partnership is not incidental framing. For a pre-revenue critical-minerals developer, federal involvement does two things at once. It provides potential access to loan or grant capital on terms no commercial lender would offer an unfunded issuer. And it acts as a signalling device to private capital: a project the DOE has engaged with is easier to underwrite, because someone with technical staff has already looked at the flowsheet and the offtake logic.

The strategic rationale is straightforward. Most of the world's lithium refining capacity sits outside the United States, and domestic battery and automotive manufacturers have spent the past several years trying to secure processing capacity closer to home. A midstream refinery — one that takes concentrate or brine feedstock and converts it into battery-grade lithium carbonate or hydroxide — is the narrowest bottleneck in that chain. That is the argument Stardust Power is selling.

The argument does not pay contractors. Until a construction financing package is signed, disclosed and drawn, the DOE relationship remains an input to a negotiation rather than money in the door. Investors should watch for the difference between a memorandum, a conditional commitment and an executed facility with defined draw conditions. Those are three very different things, and only the third funds steel.

What a $0.68 share price says about the market's verdict

Stardust Power shares last closed at $0.68, up 0.92% on the session, with a prior close of $0.67 and a day range of $0.67 to $0.71, as of the close on 13 August 2026. That is a sub-dollar quote on a Nasdaq listing — the zone where continued-listing rules on minimum bid price come into play and where reverse splits and compliance extensions become part of the corporate vocabulary.

The wider market gave no cover for that. The S&P 500 tracker (SPY) closed at $777.88, up 0.70%; the Nasdaq 100 proxy (QQQ) finished at $732.07, up 1.16%; and the Dow tracker (DIA) ended at $537.91, up 0.14%. Risk appetite on the day was constructive, particularly in the tech-heavy index. A microcap developer barely moving in that tape is being priced on its own financing risk, not on the market's mood.

The practical consequence of a $0.68 stock is dilution mathematics. Equity issued at that level buys relatively little capital per share created, which means any meaningful raise done through the common stock would be heavily dilutive to existing holders. That is precisely why non-dilutive or lower-dilution routes — federal loans, project-level debt, strategic investment from an offtaker, or the sale of an interest in the project itself — matter far more here than they would for a company with a healthy balance sheet.

The milestones that would change the picture

For anyone tracking the name, the checkpoints are specific rather than thematic:

• A closed construction financing package. Size, structure, cost of capital and conditions precedent. Announced intent is not the same as available funds.
• Formalisation of the DOE arrangement. Whether the partnership converts into committed dollars, and on what schedule.
• Resolution of the Nasdaq compliance review. A cured listing deficiency removes an overhang; a delisting would sharply narrow the investor base and complicate future raises.
• Feedstock and offtake agreements. A refinery needs contracted input and contracted output before lenders will treat cash flows as bankable.
• Cash and burn in the next quarterly report. The single cleanest read on whether the funding gap is closing or widening.

The sector backdrop cuts both ways

Domestic critical-minerals processing sits at the intersection of industrial policy and battery demand, and that has kept government attention on projects like Muskogee. But policy support has been unevenly matched by lithium chemical pricing, and capital markets have been selective about which development-stage names get funded. The result is a bifurcated sector: projects with strategic partners and committed capital progress, while those relying on the promise of future partnerships stall.

Stardust Power's fiscal Q2 disclosure places it, for now, in the second group. Management is doing what management in that position must do — advancing permitting and site work, cultivating federal relationships, negotiating with financiers. The reported $0.5 million cash balance and $3.9 million quarterly loss mean the negotiations are the story. Everything else at Muskogee is downstream of them.

Key facts

• Share price (SDST): $0.68 at the close, 13 Aug 2026 (+0.92%)
• Cash at quarter-end: $0.5 million
• Q2 2026 net loss: $3.9 million
• Project: Muskogee, Oklahoma lithium refinery

Frequently asked questions

How much cash does Stardust Power have?

On its fiscal second-quarter 2026 earnings call, Stardust Power's chief financial officer reported cash of $0.5 million. That is set against a net loss of $3.9 million for the quarter, meaning the company's remaining cash is a small fraction of a single quarter's reported loss and outside financing is required to keep advancing its projects.

What is the Muskogee refinery?

Muskogee, Oklahoma is the site of Stardust Power's planned lithium refinery. Chief executive Roshan Pujari told investors on the fiscal Q2 2026 call that the company is progressing site development, construction financing discussions and a partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy in connection with the project.

Why does the Department of Energy partnership matter?

For a pre-revenue developer, federal involvement can open access to loan or grant capital on terms commercial lenders would not offer, and it validates the project technically for private investors. However, a partnership only helps the balance sheet once it converts into committed, drawable funds rather than an expression of intent.

What is the Nasdaq compliance review about?

Stardust Power's fiscal Q2 2026 call was reported alongside a Nasdaq compliance review. The shares last closed at $0.68, below the $1 level that typically triggers minimum bid price scrutiny on the exchange. A cured deficiency removes an overhang; a delisting would narrow the investor base and complicate future capital raising.

How did Stardust Power stock trade?

Stardust Power shares last closed at $0.68, up 0.92% from a prior close of $0.67, with a session range of $0.67 to $0.71, as of the close on 13 August 2026. On the same day, the S&P 500 tracker rose 0.70% and the Nasdaq 100 proxy rose 1.16%, so the stock lagged a firm tape.

What should investors watch next?

The key checkpoints are a closed construction financing package with disclosed terms, formalisation of the Department of Energy arrangement into committed capital, resolution of the Nasdaq compliance review, feedstock and offtake agreements for the refinery, and the cash balance and burn rate reported in the next quarterly filing.

Sources

• Stardust Power Inc (SDST) (Q2 2026) Earnings Call Highlights: Advancing Muskogee Refinery Amid ... — GuruFocus

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