Company: HCWB
Filing Date: 2025-04-07
Form Type: S-1
Source: 0001193125-25-073723
Chunk: 78

Company: HCW Biologics Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-04-07
Form: S-1
Chunk 78
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 Common Stock that largely exceeds supply and/or focused investor trading in anticipation of a potential short squeeze have led to, may be currently leading to, and could again lead to, extreme price volatility in shares of our Common Stock. Investors may purchase shares of our Common Stock to hedge existing exposure or to speculate on the price of our Common Stock. Speculation on the price of our Common Stock may involve long and short exposures. To the extent aggregate short exposure exceeds the number of shares of our Common Stock available for purchase on the open market, investors with short exposure may have to pay a premium to repurchase shares of our Common Stock for delivery to lenders of our Common Stock. Those repurchases may, in turn, dramatically increase the price of shares of our Common Stock until additional shares of our Common Stock are available for trading or borrowing. This is often referred to as a “short squeeze.” With the recent substantial increase in volume of our shares being traded and trading price, the proportion of our Common Stock that may be traded in the future by short sellers may increase the likelihood that our Common Stock will be the target of a short squeeze. A short squeeze and/or focused investor trading in anticipation of a short squeeze have led to, may be 48

currently leading to, and could again lead to volatile price movements in shares of our Common Stock that may be unrelated or disproportionate to our financial performance or prospects and, once investors purchase the shares of our Common Stock necessary to cover their short positions, or if investors no longer believe a short squeeze is viable, the price of our Common Stock may rapidly decline. Investors that purchase shares of our Common Stock during a short squeeze may lose a significant portion of their investment. Under the circumstances, we caution you against investing in our Common Stock, unless you are prepared to incur the risk of losing all or a substantial portion of your investment. Increases in market interest rates may cause potential investors to seek higher returns and therefore reduce demand for our Common Stock, which could result in a decline in our stock price. One of the factors that may influence the price of our Common Stock is the return on our Common Stock (i.e., the amount of distributions as a percentage of the price of our Common Stock) relative to market interest rates. An increase in market interest rates, which are currently at low levels relative to historical rates, may lead prospective purchasers of our Common Stock to expect a return, which we may be unable or choose not to provide as we have never paid a dividend and have no current intention to pay any dividends. Further, higher interest