Exploring Charles & Colvard, Ltd. (CTHR) Investor Profile: Who’s Buying and Why?

You're looking at Charles & Colvard, Ltd. (CTHR) because the numbers are screaming a contradiction, and you want to know which institutional investors are betting on the turnaround. Honestly, the stock's story is a tough one right now, but the investor profile shows some surprising conviction. How do you reconcile a company that reported a full-year net loss of over $14.36 million (filed in April 2025) and a current market capitalization of only about $1.57 million with the fact that major institutional players like BlackRock Fund Advisors and Vanguard Group Inc. still hold significant positions? BlackRock, for example, holds approximately 188,857 shares, representing over 1% of the company, and Vanguard is right behind them. Why are these giants holding on when the company is facing a delayed Q1 FY2026 filing and expects to disclose factors raising substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern, even after Q3 2025 revenue came in at $4.05 million? We need to look past the headline losses and see if they are buying for the long-term shift to lab-grown diamonds or if they are just portfolio noise. Let's dig into the 13F filings, recent activist movements, and the core thesis driving the smart money's defintely risky play.

Who Invests in Charles & Colvard, Ltd. (CTHR) and Why?

You're looking at Charles & Colvard, Ltd. (CTHR) and trying to figure out who's buying a stock that's been through a major restructuring and is now trading on the OTC Expert Market. The direct takeaway is that this is overwhelmingly a retail-driven stock, but the institutional money that remains is betting on a high-risk, high-reward turnaround in the lab-grown gemstone market.

The investor base for Charles & Colvard, Ltd. is highly concentrated among individual traders, which is a key risk factor you need to understand. Honestly, institutional investors (like mutual funds and pension funds) hold a tiny slice of the pie. As of the latest data, institutional ownership is remarkably low, sitting around just 0.26% of the outstanding shares. That's a huge divergence from the typical S&P 500 company.

Here's the quick math on the investor breakdown:

• Retail Investors: Hold approximately 93.85% of the stock.
• Institutional Investors: Hold approximately 0.26% of the stock.
• Insiders: Hold approximately 5.83% of the stock.

The vast majority of the stock is in the hands of retail investors, which can lead to high volatility and make the stock susceptible to sentiment shifts, especially now that the company has faced a delisting from Nasdaq in April 2025. This makes it a classic contrarian play for many individual investors who see the low stock price-around $0.49 per share in April 2025-as a deep value opportunity.

The few institutional players, like Vanguard Extended Market Index Fund Investor Shares and Renaissance Technologies LLC, are often holding passively or using small-cap allocation strategies. But the most interesting institutional activity comes from activist hedge funds. For example, a Schedule 13D filing in 2025 indicated a significant position, with one firm holding about 11.90% ownership as of September 2025, signaling an intent to actively pursue a change in business strategy. This is a clear activist bet on a forced turnaround.

What's attracting these investors, especially the retail and activist money? It's not current financial health. The company reported net sales of only $21,956,472 and a substantial net loss of $14,362,957 for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2024 (reported in April 2025). Plus, management expects decreased net sales and another net loss for the quarter ended September 30, 2025. The motivation is purely a growth-prospects-and-turnaround story.

Investors are buying into the core business pivot: the shift to lab-grown gemstones. They see Charles & Colvard, Ltd.'s pioneer status in moissanite (Forever One™) and its expansion into lab-grown diamonds (Caydia™) as a potential long-term winner in a jewelry market increasingly valuing ethical sourcing and lower cost. They are betting on the company's strategic goals for fiscal 2025: stabilizing operations, enhancing operational efficiency, and expanding product differentiation to capture that market share. For a deeper dive on the underlying numbers, you should check out Breaking Down Charles & Colvard, Ltd. (CTHR) Financial Health: Key Insights for Investors.

The strategies at play are primarily value investing and contrarian trading. Value investors are looking at the company's tangible assets and brand history, believing the stock is trading far below its intrinsic value. Short-term traders are looking for volatility spikes driven by news, like the strategic partnership with VideoShops announced in November 2025, or by the actions of the activist investors.

The table below summarizes the core investment thesis for Charles & Colvard, Ltd. in the current environment:

What this estimate hides is the sheer difficulty of a turnaround when a company is expecting continued losses and dealing with shareholder activism. The stock is a bet on management successfully executing cost reductions, like the headcount and executive salary cuts, and capitalizing on the lab-grown market before liquidity runs out. If onboarding takes 14+ days, churn risk rises.

Next step for you is to monitor the activist filings closely; if the 13D holder pushes for a sale or a major operational shift, that's the real catalyst.

Institutional Ownership and Major Shareholders of Charles & Colvard, Ltd. (CTHR)

You want to know who is really investing in Charles & Colvard, Ltd. (CTHR) and what that means for the stock. The direct takeaway is that institutional ownership is remarkably low for a publicly traded company, sitting at approximately 0.26% of shares outstanding according to recent data, though other reports suggest it could be as high as 5.98%. This means the stock's price action is overwhelmingly driven by retail investors and company insiders, not the large funds.

As a seasoned analyst, I see this low institutional float as a defining characteristic of CTHR's investor profile. It's a micro-cap stock, and the big funds that do hold a position are often passively tracking a small-cap index, not making a conviction bet on the company's Mission Statement, Vision, & Core Values of Charles & Colvard, Ltd. (CTHR).

Top Institutional Investors and Their Shareholdings

While the overall institutional stake is small, the list of investors includes some of the industry's biggest names, which is typical even for a micro-cap. These holdings often stem from index funds (passive investing) that are required to hold a sliver of every stock in a given index, like the Russell Microcap Index.

As of late in the 2025 fiscal year context (using data filed for the end of the prior calendar year), the top institutional holders of Charles & Colvard, Ltd. show a mix of passive and quantitative players. For instance, as of December 31, 2024, Renaissance Technologies LLC held a significant block of 113.17 thousand shares, and Vanguard Group Inc held 45.37 thousand shares. Here is a snapshot of the top institutional investors from earlier in the fiscal year (March 31, 2024), providing a clearer picture of who was involved:

Recent Changes in Institutional Ownership

Analyzing the change in ownership is defintely more telling than the static list. Recent data suggests a net decrease in institutional interest, or at least a significant shuffling of positions, as the stock price declined sharply between late 2024 and mid-2025. For example, Vanguard Group Inc.'s reported holding dropped from 142,539 shares in March 2024 to 45,370 shares by December 31, 2024. That's a massive cut. Here's the quick math: a reduction of nearly 97,169 shares in just nine months.

This kind of selling pressure from a major passive fund like Vanguard signals that as the total share count changed (often due to reverse stock splits or new issuances), the fund's internal models adjusted, leading to a significant divestment. It's a systematic exit, not necessarily a vote against the company, but it still removes a large block of stable demand from the market.

• Passive funds are reducing exposure.
• Sentiment score for institutional accumulation is low.
• Retail investors are now the primary holders.

Impact of Institutional Investors on CTHR's Strategy and Stock

The role of institutional investors in Charles & Colvard, Ltd. is muted compared to a large-cap company where they might own 70% or 80% of the float. Because institutional ownership is so low, their direct influence on corporate strategy-like pushing for a CEO change or a new product line-is minimal. The company's management and insiders, who hold about 5.83% of the stock, have a much stronger voice.

Still, their presence matters. When BlackRock or Vanguard holds a position, it lends a tiny bit of legitimacy and liquidity. But their selling, as seen with Vanguard's reduction, can put disproportionate downward pressure on a micro-cap stock, especially one that has been delisted from the Nasdaq and now trades over-the-counter (OTC). The stock's volatility is primarily a function of retail investor sentiment and internal company news, not the slow, systematic trading of large institutions.

Next step: You need to map the recent insider buying activity against this institutional selling to see who is truly showing conviction in the company's future.

Key Investors and Their Impact on Charles & Colvard, Ltd. (CTHR)

You need to know who's buying Charles & Colvard, Ltd. (CTHR) because the investor base has fundamentally changed in 2025, shifting from traditional institutional funds to strategic partners and active, concentrated individual holders. The key buyers now are not just passive money managers; they are players who directly influence the company's operational strategy, especially in the booming lab-grown diamond (LGD) market.

The most significant investor move this year is the emergence of Ethara Capital LLC as a strategic partner. This isn't a typical portfolio investment; it's a supply chain deal masked as an investment. In October 2025, Charles & Colvard, Ltd. announced a partnership with Ethara Capital, whose affiliates are major players in Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) LGD manufacturing, owning and operating over 3,000 diamond-growing machines. This partnership gives Charles & Colvard, Ltd. an expanded, vertically integrated supply chain, which is a massive operational advantage in a competitive market.

Here's the quick math: Ethara Capital first announced a Convertible Secured Note Purchase Agreement in June 2025, and by September, they had converted the first 10% of that note into common equity. This is a clear signal: they are tying their financial investment directly to their operational success with the company, making them an activist investor by definition, even if their activism is collaborative, not hostile. This is a defintely a new chapter for the business, as you can read more about its foundation and strategy here: Charles & Colvard, Ltd. (CTHR): History, Ownership, Mission, How It Works & Makes Money.

Beyond the strategic partner, you also see the influence of major individual and fund investors who have been aggressively accumulating shares, often filing a Schedule 13D, which signals they may seek to influence management or strategy. This is where the stock's low market capitalization of around $343.13K (as of late 2025) makes these concentrated positions highly influential.

• Pham Duc Hoang: Increased his position to 532,216 shares, representing 11.90% ownership as of September 2025. That's a huge 77.46% increase in his stake.
• Riverstyx Capital Management LLC: Also reported 532,216 shares, matching the 11.90% ownership, following a massive 129.20% increase in their position in September 2025.

These large, recent accumulation moves by investors like Pham Duc Hoang and Riverstyx Capital Management LLC, combined with the strategic entry of Ethara Capital, are the primary drivers of stock movement outside of market-wide volatility. They hold enough equity to significantly influence a shareholder vote or push for a change in corporate direction, especially after the company's delisting from Nasdaq in April 2025. The delisting, which moved the stock to the OTC Experts Market, often encourages this type of high-conviction, concentrated ownership, as the float is thinner and the stock's price is more sensitive to large trades.

Institutional ownership is relatively small, holding about 5.98% of shares outstanding, but the real action is with the large individual and strategic players. This table breaks down the top active holders and their recent accumulation:

What this estimate hides is the true influence of Ethara Capital's partnership. Their impact isn't just about their share count; it's about their role as a supplier, which is far more critical to the business's future growth in lab-grown diamonds than any traditional mutual fund's stake. Your action here should be to monitor the SEC filings of these three entities for any further accumulation or divestiture, as their moves will continue to dictate the near-term price trajectory and strategic direction of Charles & Colvard, Ltd.

Market Impact and Investor Sentiment

The investor sentiment toward Charles & Colvard, Ltd. (CTHR) is best described as cautiously neutral with a bearish undercurrent, a direct result of recent financial and operational turbulence. The company's small market capitalization of approximately US$1.1m as of November 2025 means its stock is highly sensitive to any news, good or bad.

You're seeing a classic small-cap scenario where the market is waiting for a clear turnaround plan to materialize. Honestly, the delay in filing the Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2025, due to litigation and resource issues, definitely doesn't help investor confidence.

Management expects to report a net loss and a decrease in net sales for that quarter, which is the core reason for the current skepticism. Still, the strategic move to secure a convertible note agreement provides a small, positive counterweight to the poor financial performance.

The Low Institutional Float: Who's Actually Buying?

Institutional ownership, which often signals stability, is remarkably low for Charles & Colvard, Ltd., especially given the company's small size and move to the OTC Expert Market. As of April 2025, SEC filings show only 5 institutional owners holding a total of just 27 shares, though other data suggests a slightly higher, yet still minimal, institutional presence.

Here's the quick math: when major funds like Vanguard Extended Market Index Fund Investor Shares (VEXMX) hold such a minuscule position, it indicates a lack of conviction from the big players. This low float magnifies the impact of any large trade, which is why you see such wild price swings.

The real action has been on the insider front, which is a key signal to watch. In August 2025, there was significant insider buying, including restricted stock awards:

• Executive Chairman James Tu acquired 480.0K shares.
• Director Neal I. Goldman acquired 24.0K shares.
• Ethara Capital Llc, a 10% owner, also executed a buy transaction.

This insider accumulation suggests that those closest to the business see value at the current depressed price, despite the near-term operational challenges. For a deeper dive into the numbers, you should check out Breaking Down Charles & Colvard, Ltd. (CTHR) Financial Health: Key Insights for Investors.

Market Reactions to Investor Moves and Volatility

The stock market's response to Charles & Colvard, Ltd.'s corporate actions and ownership shifts has been defined by extreme volatility. The most significant move in 2025 was the delisting from the Nasdaq on April 22, 2025, a major negative event that followed an earlier reverse stock split (1-for-10 to 1-for-15) approved in May 2024 to try and maintain the listing.

This shift to the OTC Expert Market inherently reduces institutional interest and liquidity. You can see the impact in the stock price movement: it fell from $1.32 per share in November 2024 to $0.49 per share by April 2025.

The daily price swings are brutal. For example, the stock price was $0.0230 on November 17, 2025, then jumped to $0.1100 on November 18, 2025, representing a massive +378.26% change in a single day, before stabilizing slightly. This kind of movement is not fundamentally driven; it's a function of a very thin trading environment.

Analyst Consensus and the Impact of Key Investors

The current analyst perspective on Charles & Colvard, Ltd. is largely Neutral, reflecting the high-risk, high-reward nature of the stock. The AI Analyst from TipRanks assigns a Neutral rating as of November 2025, with a most recent analyst price target set at $0.50.

This $0.50 target is a key anchor for your decision-making. It suggests a potential upside from the current price of $0.1100 (as of November 19, 2025), but it's still far below the price a year ago.

The impact of key investors, particularly the activist shareholders and insiders, is primarily on governance and strategy. The presence of shareholder nominees at the October 2025 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, such as Duke Pam, Benjamin O. Franklin IV, Michael R. Levin, and Lloyd M. Sems, signals ongoing internal pressure for change.

The table below summarizes the current consensus and key financial pressures:

The bottom line is that while the stock is cheap, the risks are high. The insider buying is a good sign, but the expected net loss and the delisting are serious headwinds. You need to see concrete results from the cost reduction strategies, like the headcount and salary reductions the company is implementing, before you can justify a bullish stance.