BOTHELL – On a day when the value of Eden Bioscience’s shares rose 67 percent, the Nasdaq market canceled what it called “erroneous” trades of the stock.
Eden’s stock has traded well below $1 a share for months, putting it out of compliance with the Nasdaq market’s trading rules. In September, Nasdaq issued notice that the stock could be delisted by March if its value didn’t rise.
On Thursday, however, Eden roared back in a big way. The small biotechnology firm’s shares rose 51 cents to close at $1.27. The stock’s volume reached more than 400,000 shares, compared with an average of less than 18,000 shares traded in a day.
Brad Powell, Eden’s chief financial officer, confirmed the company didn’t issue any news to precipitate the frenzy.
After the market closed, Nasdaq’s MarketWatch office issued a notice saying that “multiple firms” had placed erroneous trades in Eden’s shares. As a result, Nasdaq decided to effectively cancel trades of the stock made at a price of $1.50 or more a share during a 44-minute period Thursday afternoon.
Powell said he knew nothing more about the canceled trades than the information contained in the Nasdaq notice. Nasdaq’s representatives could not be reached late Thursday.
Even with the deleted trades, however, the company’s stock may once again be in compliance with Nasdaq’s trading rules.
Eden, which makes crop and plant growth enhancement products, has been dogged by slowly growing sales and continued losses for years. In August, Eden’s board of directors announced it would consider a possible sale or other steps for the company.
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