What happened
Shares of MoviePass owner Helios and Matheson Analytics (HMNY) would appear to be rebounding today in a big way -- jumping from nine cents per share at yesterday's close to $12.71 per share at 12:05 p.m. today. But this change in price is due to a reverse stock split that decreased the number of shares and simultaneously boosted the per-share price. But the reverse split prompted investor action and, in fact, the stock is down today in a big way.
Helios and Matheson stock. It's the movie you can hardly bear to watch. Image source: Getty Images.
So what
On Wednesday, Helios and Matheson's long-awaited 250-for-1 reverse stock split took effect, cutting the share count from more than 268 million to roughly 1.7 million shares outstanding. With that split, shares of Helios that sold for $0.09 apiece yesterday should be worth $22.50 each today.
Except they aren't. Despite having been warned far in advance, investors appear to be throwing up over the split, and throwing away their Helios shares en masse. The stock's current share price of $12.71 per share (the number is changing constantly) represents a 40% sell-off as of this writing.
Now what
Thus, while Helios and Matheson Analytics' stock price looks better than it's looked since November 2017 (the last time the stock sold for more than $13), it's actually much worse. Today's price is, in fact, the lowest it's ever been for the MoviePass owner.
About the only good news today: Thanks to the reverse split, and the boost to Helios' nominal price, the shares are no longer subject to delisting from Nasdaq. At least not for now.
