When Astroscale Holdings began trading in Tokyo a year ago, excitement over the Japanese space-debris pioneer was riding so high that the stock surged 62%, making it a billion-dollar company.

That lasted one day. The value of its shares have since halved after those lofty expectations soured, with the company announcing delays of some projects and lowering some of its earnings estimates.

Astroscale is now the worst performer among Tokyo¡¯s 10 biggest listings in the past year and it¡¯s trading below its initial public offering price, data shows. While the company says the setbacks are temporary, its stock performance illustrates how fast investor patience can run out even for frontier industries like space.

¡°Investors had put high expectations on the company, and the delay in scheduled plans resulted in the stock¡¯s underperformance,¡± said Ikuo Mitsui, a fund manager at Aizawa Securities. ¡°There was a mismatch between investors and the company in terms of timelines.¡±

The company, whose services include removing space debris and repairing satellites in space, recently downgraded its earnings estimates, projecting net losses doubled to ?22.5 billion in the year ended April 30. It cited delays in new contract signings and revenue recognition for existing projects, according to a release by Astroscale, which will report earnings next week.

It didn¡¯t help that the company also issued more stock to raise funds, diluting the value of existing shares, according to Koji Endo, an analyst at SBI Securities. Though investors are aware the company needs money, it needs to show better growth, he said.

There are some positive signs, however. The company posted its first gross profit during the fiscal third quarter and its operating losses have been narrowing the past two quarters.

The company remains optimistic that recent setbacks are only transitory.

¡°We expect more growth for the current fiscal year and aim to achieve better profitability than last year,¡± said Nobuhiro Matsuyama, chief financial officer at Astroscale, in an interview. Astroscale aims to improve its profitability further by controlling costs and securing 20 to 30 projects globally, he said.

The company has enough funding for now, raising about ?12 billion in a recent share sale, but Astroscale will continue to raise funds if there¡¯s a need for investment, Matsuyama said.

Toshiyuki Tateno, an analyst at Phillip Securities Japan, agrees that the company¡¯s long-term prospects remain bright. Despite the recent weak performance, the technology the company has should revalue the stock higher going forward, he said.