Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for MoviePass
Mitch Lowe, CEO of MoviePass, whose parent company was warned this week by the Nasdaq that its stock faced imminent delisting from its market.
- The Nasdaq warned MoviePass's parent company that it would move to delist its stock as soon as December 28.
- Shares of Helios and Matheson have traded below $1 a share for nearly the entire time since May, violating Nasdaq's listing standards.
- The company had until Tuesday to boost its stock price above that threshold, but failed, and the Nasdaq doesn't think it will be able to ever do it.
- Helios and Matheson plans to appeal the decision, which would delay and possibly avert the delisting.
The parent company of MoviePass may soon no longer have its shares trading on the Nasdaq market.
The Nasdaq warned Helios and Matheson on Wednesday that it plans to suspend trading in the company's shares on December 28 and will move to have them delisted, Helios and Matheson disclosed Friday in a document filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company plans to delay and potentially head off the delisting by appealing the exchange's decision.
But the company's chances of winning an appeal could be slim. The Nasdaq already decided that it won't give Helios and Matheson a 180-day extension to get its stock back above $1 a share, the standard which it has failed to meet since May of this year.
Helios and Matheson "received a written notice from [Nasdaq's] staff that the company has not regained compliance with [Nasdaq's listing standards] and is not eligible for a second 180-day period because the staff determined that it does not appear that it is possible for the company to cure the deficiency," the company said in its regulatory filing.
The MoviePass owner indicated in the document that it still believes it can boost its stock above $1 a share and regain compliance. It said it would appeal the decision and ask for a delay so that it can reverse split its stock a second time. It also said it would "continue considering all available options to resolve the company's noncompliance" with the listing standard.
Helios and Matheson's stock has been stuck below $1 a share
Nasdaq's rules require it to put the delisting process on hold when a company appeals the delisting decision. Appeals are typically held within 45 days of their filing, according to the document. Should Helios and Matheson not actually appeal the delisting decision or lose its appeal, its shares would likely end up on the over-the-counter markets where they would be more difficult to trade and would likely decline even further than they already have. The company's stock has lost more than 99% of its value this year as its burned through more than $300 million in cash and sold off billions of shares to stay in business.
In June, after Helios and Matheson's stock had been below $1 a share for more than a month, the Nasdaq sent the company a letter warning that it was not in compliance with the market's listing standards. Nasdaq gave Helios and Matheson 180 days to boost its share price and solve the problem.
After getting approval from shareholders, it reverse split its stock by a 250-to-1 ratio in July, temporarily boosting its stock price above $20 a share. But the shares quickly plummeted below $1 a share again as the company issued and sold massive quantities of new shares to fund its ongoing losses.
Helios and Matheson proposed reverse splitting its stock again this fall, but it ended up abandoning the effort in the face of widespread investor opposition.
The Nasdaq cited that history in explaining why it wouldn't give Helios and Matheson a second 180-day period to get back in compliance with its listing standards, according to the regulatory document.
- Read more about Helios and Matheson and MoviePass:
- After losing 99% of its value, MoviePass' parent company is getting ready to ask shareholders to support its CEO and approve his pay
- MoviePass' parent company is delaying a shareholder vote on its reverse-split plan - again
- The parent company of MoviePass just gave another indication that shareholders are balking at its plan to reverse split its stock
- MoviePass' parent company just freed up some room to sell more stock - after already increasing its share count by 80,000% since July