Mullen Automotive Stock News: share price fights back after management battle NASDAQ delisting
- NASDAQ exchange sent Mullen notice of delisting.
- The delisting of MULN could happen as soon as September 15.
- Mullen is attempting to appeal the delisting decision and gain six months to comply.
- Failing to maintain the MULN share price above $1 is the reason for the delisting.
Mullen Automotive (MULN) stock has gained 2.2% to $0.4340 at Friday’s open. Part of the reason appears to be encouragement that Mullen management is fighting back against NASDAQ’s delisting announcement by attempting to appeal the decision.
The NASDAQ Composite is up 0.3% at the start of Friday’s session despite NASDAQ 100 futures trending lower in the premarket.
Mullen stock news: Michery attempts to gain NASDAQ extension
Mullen management announced on Thursday that they had appealed the delisting decision to the Nasdaq Listing Qualifications Panel. The electric vehicle maker stated that they may obtain as much as 180 days to bring MULN’s share price back into compliance.
All the way back in the spring time, the NASDAQ exchange had given Mullen six months to comply with the guidelines that require listed companies to keep their share price above the $1.00 mark. Instead of immediately complying, management led by CEO David Michery diluted the stock by about 10X in order to raise more than $200 million for Mullen’s production ramp-up.
With the MULN stock price trade down near $0.11, in early August the board of directors gave CEO David Michery the authority to perform the stock’s second reverse stock split of the year. This action gave each shareholder one share for every nine shares held previously.
This moved the share price back to $1.00 in time to meet the NASDAQ requirement that MULN trade above the threshold for 10 consecutive sessions prior to September 5. Why Michery did not perform a 1-for-20 reverse split to be on the safe side is anyone’s guess. The chief executive even admitted at the time that his lawyers and executives wanted him to go for a 1-for-50 ratio.
In May of this year, the company had already completed a 1-for-25 reverse split to raise its share price value. That reversal pushed the share price from $0.06 to about $1.50.
The NASDAQ Listing Qualifications Panel “has broad discretionary public interest authority, which includes the discretion to grant the Company up to an additional 180 calendar days from Sept. 5, 2023, to regain compliance,” a Mullen spokesperson said in a statement. “The Panel can also exercise that authority to apply additional or more stringent criteria for the continued listing of the Company’s common stock or suspend or delist securities. Ultimately, there is no guarantee that the Panel will grant an extension of the compliance period.”
Mullen Automotive FAQs
Mullen Automotive is a publicly-traded development-stage electric vehicle company based in Brea, California that typically uses outside partnerships to manufacture its vehicles. The company was founded in 2014 and currently sells self-designed electric delivery vehicles. Besides its commercial offerings, Mullen plans to begin manufacturing its Mullen FIVE EV crossover in late 2024 or early 2025. Mullen Automotive went public on the NASDAQ exchange through a reverse merger in late 2021.
David Michery has been the company’s CEO since he founded and incorporated the company in 2014. The existing company came from the merging of CODA Automotive and Mullen Motor Cars through acquisition. Michery is joined by Chief Financial Officer Jonathan New, Chief Commercial Officer John Schwegman and President of the Automotive Division Calin Popa.
Through a partnership with Randy Marion Automotive Group, Mullen distributes its Mullen One delivery van that has an electric range of 110 miles. Through an agreement with a Chinese manufacturer and distributor based in Ireland, the company also distributes the Mullen-GO Commercial Urban Delivery EV in Europe. In July 2023, Mullen will begin commercial production at its facility in Mississippi of its Class 3 EV Cab Chassis long-haul truck for immediate delivery. Through its 60% ownership stake in Bollinger Motors, Mullen will also reap the benefits of that company’s B1 SUV and B2 pickup truck, as well as other commercial vehicles in the future. The Mullen FIVE crossover vehicle is not slated for production until at least late 2024, but it is already taking reservations.
Mullen has been diluting its stock since going public in late 2021. This is because the company as of yet currently has little revenue from operations and no profits. The stock has fallen over 99% since the company’s reverse merger in November 2021, and the rapid dilution is mostly to blame. Taking into account Mullen’s 1-for-25 reverse stock split on May 4, 2023, Mullen had 33,338,727 shares outstanding on September 30, 2022, but 126,281,274 shares on March 31, 2023. The company is allowed to sell up to 200 million shares under current authorization.
Mullen stock forecast
Mullen stock is at the very least holding steady above $0.39. That was the price where MULN discovered support on August 23. There is no reason to think that the share price will recover since it has mostly been in a downtrend for the past five years.
However, expect the share price to increase unnaturally if management is once again given an extension by NASDAQ’s committee. Michery will certainly use it to perform another reverse split.
MULN daily chart