Besides unusually high volume, nothing spectacular about Capstone Therapeutics Corp. (NASDAQ:CAPS) happened during the latest trading session yesterday. By the end of the day, more than 748 thousand shares of common CAPS stock changed hands, setting a three-month record.
As far as the price is concerned, however, it failed to make any memorable movement, namely 8.70% up to $0.25 per share. Nevertheless, the fact that it did not succumb to the huge volume speaks for itself.
What has been going on with CAPS stock for the last couple of days has nothing to do with any corporate news. In fact, the last time CAPS submitted an official update was exactly a week ago. Last Friday, management announced that the company would move into a ‘hibernation mode’ by laying off 14 out of its 18 employees. The move is expected to preserve cash during ongoing partnering effort.
CAPS finished the second calendar quarter of 2011 with:
- cash reserves in excess of $19.6 million, which practically comprise all of the company’s assets;
- $1.2 million in current liabilities;
- net loss in excess of $2.16 million.
The company expects to save cash by reducing its labour force to a minimum. The impact of this decision, however, might turn out to be not so grand as managers claim it will be. As seen from the latest 10-Q, CAPS has indeed incurred expenses to the amount of $2.17 million. Yet, only 36% of them are due to administrative costs, while the rest are entirely comprised by R & D expenses. The latter will also shrink, which will reduce not only the company’s cash outflow, but also its potential to search for commercially viable projects and technologies.
