DryShips Inc. (NASDAQ:DRYS) has announced that it has received a written notice from Nasdaq Stock market claiming that it has failed to uphold the Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(a)(2).
The NASDAQ notice claimed that DryShips’ common stock has for 30 consecutive days registered a closing bid price below the required minimum of $1 per share. The closing bid price for the firm’s stock has been below $1 since June 14, 2016, and consecutively failed to breach the $1 mark until June 26. Nasdaq claims that the stock performance failed to comply with the Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(a)(2). The company can apply to a grace period that will allow it to regain compliance in a span of 180 days according to Nasdaq Listing Rule 5810(c)(3)(A). This means that the firm has until January 23rd, 2017 to make sure that it regains compliance.
The only way that the firm can redeem itself is to make sure that its common stock registers a closing bid price of $1 per share or higher. The catch is that DryShips has to make sure that the stock maintains the accepted closing bid price range of $1 per share or higher for at least 10 consecutive days. DryShips has resolved to carry out a 4-for-1 reverse stock split to regain its compliance with the minimum price bid requirement of the capital market.
If the company fails to meet the all the listing requirements during the 180-day grace period, it might end up receiving an additional grace period of 180 days. The leniency offered by the NASDAQ capital market is for the firm to have enough time to redeem itself. However, if after the situation is still the same after the grace period, then the company’s stock might end up being delisted from the capital market. Despite the NASDAQ notice, the company will maintain its day-to-day business operations. The notice is also not expected to affect the company’s listing on other capital markets. DryShips operates its offshore supports vessels and its drybulk carriers on a global scale.
