Core Viewpoint - Horizon Technology Finance (NASDAQ:HRZN) has underperformed the BDC market by approximately 15% since December last year, primarily due to deteriorating fundamentals and risk exposures [1][2] Financial Performance - In Q1 2024, HRZN generated investment income of $26 million, down from $28 million in the prior period, driven by spread compression [3] - Interest expenses increased to $8.2 million from $7.1 million in Q1 2023, attributed to higher financing costs rather than increased debt volumes [3] - Net investment income for Q1 2024 was $0.38 per share, a decline from $0.45 per share in Q4 2023 and $0.46 per share in Q1 2023 [3] - Net Asset Value (NAV) decreased from $9.71 per share in the prior quarter to $9.64 per share [3] Investment Activity - HRZN closed $37 million in new loan commitments and approvals in Q1 2024, funding $32 million, which exceeded $20 million in total prepaid principal from existing loans [3] - The onboarding yield for Q1 investments was 13.4%, significantly lower than the total portfolio debt yield of 15.6% [3] Market Conditions - The current venture capital (VC) transaction environment is challenging, with new loan origination expected to progress slowly [3] - Despite some improvement in M&A and IPO markets, VC deal volumes remain low, potentially leading to negative net investment volumes in upcoming quarters [3] Portfolio Quality - The proportion of "category 1" investments, indicating deteriorating credit quality, increased from 4.1% to 7.6% of total portfolio value [3] - The likelihood of writing off these investments poses a significant risk to HRZN's net investment income generation [3] Investment Outlook - HRZN's current yield of 11.7% is considered insufficient given the associated risks, especially when compared to the sector average BDC yield of 11.6% [4] - The overall assessment indicates that there are better risk-reward opportunities in the BDC sector than investing in Horizon Technology Finance [4]
Horizon Technology: The Risks Have Increased, While Yield Has Remained Unattractive