Skillz Gets NYSE Delisting Notice as Stock Labors Below $1

Posted on: December 20, 2022, 09:17h. 

Last updated on: January 3, 2023, 05:37h.

Todd Shriber @etfgodfather Read More
Expertise: Financial, Gaming Business, Mergers and Acquisitions.

Mobile games developer Skillz Inc. (NYSE:SKLZ) received a notice today from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). It warned the company that its floundering stock could be delisted from the bourse unless action is taken to boost the share price.

Skillz
An ad for the Skillz app. The company could be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange. (Image: Skillz)

The gaming company garnered the warning because its shares resided below $1 for more than 30 consecutive trading days. San Francisco-based Skillz notified investors it received the NYSE notice today after the close of US markets.

The notice does not result in the immediate delisting of Skillz’s Class A common stock from the NYSE,” according to a statement issued by the company.

Down almost 28% over the past week and 91.82% year-to-date, Skillz stock hasn’t settled above $1 since Nov. 18. It closed at 60.8 cents today, representing a far cry from the 52-week high of $8.80.

Options for Skillz

San Francisco-based Skillz offers gamers a different model than other pay sites, particularly in the esports niche. Skillz matches competitors based on acumen, ensuring a gamer new to the platform isn’t going up against an experienced, highly skilled rival.

In terms of options the company has for bolstering its share price, the best bet is for investors to embrace the stock, sending it higher based on strong fundamentals. However, market participants apparently doubt the company’s fundamental outlook, meaning the most practical avenue for increasing the share price and avoiding delistment is a reverse split.

Skillz said that’s one of the alternatives it’s mulling to raise the stock price. In a hypothetical 10-for-1 reverse split scenario, an investor receives a single share of a company’s equity for, say, $10, in exchange for 10 shares trading at a dollar. The price of the stock increases, but the company’s market capitalization and the value of investors’ stakes don’t change.

Skillz “can regain compliance at any time within the six-month period following receipt of the NYSE notice if, on the last trading day of any calendar month during the cure period, the Company has a closing share price of at least $1.00 and an average closing share price of at least $1.00 over the 30 trading-day period ending on the last trading day of that month,” according to the statement.

The company will notify the NYSE on Jan. 3 of its share price-boosting plans.

What Went Wrong with Skillz

The rub with a reverse split is that the higher share price gives short sellers a better starting point, which is relevant with Skillz because it’s been a favorite target of bearish traders since its 2020 initial public offering (IPO).

A stock that once traded above $45 now clings to 60 cents due in part to investors’ doubt about the company’s ability to generate profits and boost average revenue per user.

Among the claims levied against Skillz by the bearish researchers is that the mobile games company engages in accounting gimmickry, that its cash revenue may be less than investors realize, and that customer acquisition costs are too high.