Open Equity
KNRX·Knorex

Knorex: Agentic AI Buzzword Meets Ad-Tech Reality

AvoidCommunication ServicesMicro CapPublished February 20, 2026
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KNRX — 6 Month Price History

Daily OHLC

Executive Summary

Knorex Ltd. (NYSE American: KNRX) surged as much as 245% this week after announcing an "agentic AI-ready" Ads API for cross-channel advertising automation. The Singapore-headquartered, Sunnyvale-based micro-cap operates the KNOREX XPO platform — an AI-driven programmatic ad-buying system spanning search, social, display, video, and CTV. The company IPO'd in October 2025 at $4.00/share, raising $12M. Despite revenue growing 24% YoY to $10.8M in FY2024, KNRX remains deeply unprofitable with -$5.9M in net losses, negative equity of -$4.4M, and only $0.8M cash at year-end. The TTM picture is worse: revenue has declined 21% to $8.2M, cash has cratered to $0.2M, and total debt ballooned to $8.2M. This is a company burning ~$5M/year in cash with virtually no runway. The agentic AI pivot is an incremental product update, not a proven product moat. At ~$55M market cap, KNRX trades at 5-7x trailing revenue for a money-losing micro-cap in a brutally competitive space.

Business Model & Revenue

Knorex Ltd. is an AI-driven programmatic advertising company founded in Singapore with dual headquarters in Sunnyvale, CA. Its flagship product, KNOREX XPO, is a cloud-based platform that automates ad buying, placement, and optimization across channels including search, social, display, video, CTV, and audio. The company positions itself as "advertising infrastructure" — a unified platform where brands and agencies can manage cross-channel campaigns with AI-powered optimization. It competes with The Trade Desk, DV360, Amazon DSP, and dozens of smaller programmatic players. On February 19, 2026, Knorex announced an "agentic AI-ready" Ads API — an API layer designed to let autonomous AI agents execute advertising workflows across Meta Ads, Google Ads, LinkedIn Ads, and TikTok Ads. Three unnamed "initial strategic partners" are reportedly deploying the API. In reality, Knorex built an API wrapper around its existing platform and positioned it for the agentic AI narrative. This is smart marketing. It is not a technological breakthrough.

Financial Highlights

TTM Revenue: $8.15M (-21.1% YoY). FY2024 Revenue: $10.82M (+24.0% YoY). Gross Margin: 43.8% TTM (improving from 37.0% in FY2023). Net Income: -$7.57M TTM. Operating Margin: -74.2% TTM. Free Cash Flow: -$4.77M TTM. Cash: $0.21M (down from $1.86M in FY2023). Total Debt: $8.18M (up from $1.13M in FY2023). Net Cash: -$7.97M. Book Value/Share: -$0.32. Shares Outstanding: 27.4M. Burn Rate: ~$5M/year in negative FCF. Cash Runway: Approximately 2-3 weeks at current burn rate. Capital raise is virtually guaranteed — shareholders will be diluted.

Competitive Landscape

Knorex competes in the $740B global digital ad market against Google DV360, Meta, Amazon DSP, The Trade Desk (TTD), and dozens of smaller programmatic platforms. Every major DSP and ad platform is adding AI capabilities natively. Google and Meta are building agentic AI ad tools into their own platforms — Knorex's API is a thin layer on top of their platforms, and those platforms can deprecate or restrict API access at will. The Trade Desk has orders-of-magnitude more data, capital, and distribution. Knorex has no structural moat: no proprietary data advantage, no network effects, and no switching costs that would prevent customers from migrating to larger platforms offering similar AI-driven optimization.

Catalysts

Bull case catalysts: (1) The agentic AI API could attract genuine integration partnerships if the industry moves toward AI agents managing ad spend autonomously. Early mover advantage in "agentic ad infrastructure" is speculative but real. (2) If revenue growth reaccelerates from the API launch, the current valuation could look more reasonable. (3) Gross margins have been improving (31% FY2021 → 44% TTM), suggesting platform efficiency gains. Bear case catalysts: (1) Imminent dilutive capital raise — with $0.2M cash and ~$5M annual burn, a secondary offering or convertible note is virtually guaranteed. (2) Going concern risk if auditors flag the negative equity and minimal cash in future filings. (3) Short-term debt surged from $0 (FY2023) to $7.6M (TTM) — aggressive borrowing to stay alive.

Key Risks

  • Imminent dilution — $0.2M cash with ~$5M annual burn means a capital raise is virtually guaranteed, likely at painful terms
  • Revenue contraction — TTM revenue declining 21% undermines the growth story that justified the October 2025 IPO
  • Going concern risk — negative equity of -$8.8M, minimal cash, rising debt; auditors may flag going concern
  • Competitive annihilation — Google, Meta, and Amazon are building agentic AI ad tools natively with orders-of-magnitude more data and distribution
  • Micro-cap liquidity risk — low float, thin volume creates extreme volatility in both directions
  • Key person risk — small team, new CFO (Jan 2026), limited management depth
  • Platform dependency — Knorex's API wraps Meta, Google, LinkedIn, and TikTok APIs; those platforms can restrict access at will

Our Thesis

Avoid. KNRX is a real company with a real product, and the agentic AI positioning is clever marketing. But clever marketing doesn't fix a balance sheet with $0.2M in cash, $8.2M in debt, shrinking revenue, and no path to profitability. The stock surged on a product announcement and favorable AI sentiment — but there's no evidence of a fundamental inflection. At ~$55M market cap, you're paying 7x TTM revenue for a company that is actively losing money, shrinking revenue, and will almost certainly dilute shareholders imminently. The pre-announcement price of ~$0.90 reflected the market's assessment of the underlying business. If Knorex can stabilize revenue, raise capital without excessive dilution, and demonstrate real API traction, it might become interesting at a lower price. Today, the risk/reward skews unfavorable for new entries.

Disclaimer: This report is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Small-cap, micro-cap, and nano-cap stocks carry significant risk including limited liquidity and higher volatility. Always do your own due diligence before making investment decisions.

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