New York, May 24, 2026, 09:01 EDT
- LNAI dropped 2.62% to end Friday at $2.26, with the stock’s 1-for-8 reverse split now in place.
- Nasdaq shuts on Monday, May 25, for Memorial Day. Next trading session moves to Tuesday.
- Lunai won a ruling from a Delaware magistrate judge for expedited discovery on claims of “naked” short selling, where shares are sold short without first borrowing them. PR Newswire
Lunai Bioworks Inc. starts the holiday-shortened week trading above Nasdaq’s $1 minimum after a reverse split. But the stock faces deadline pressure to keep its listing. The biotech is also dealing with thin trading and a fresh lawsuit over alleged short selling.
The shares ended Friday at $2.26, dropping 2.62%. Volume came in near 206,000 shares based on historical market data. The stock moved between $2.11 and $2.40 in the session.
Lunai’s 1-for-8 reverse split took effect Friday, moving to boost its share price and get it back in line with Nasdaq’s minimum bid-price rule. Shareholders’ stakes didn’t shift, but the total share count dropped and the price per share rose. The company now trades under CUSIP 29350E302, Nasdaq said.
Lunai disclosed in a filing that its reverse split kicked in at 12:01 a.m. Eastern on May 22. Shares will now trade split-adjusted under the usual LNAI ticker. Lunai previously said the number of issued and outstanding shares should drop to about 4.53 million from around 36.27 million, with fractional-share adjustments.
Lunai’s stock listing problem is still unresolved. The company earlier said a Nasdaq Hearings Panel let it keep its listing until June 1, 2026, to meet the bid-price rule. Lunai is also still working on the stockholders’ equity rule, which is based on assets minus liabilities.
Judge backs Lunai in bid to name naked short sellers Friday, Lunai said a U.S. magistrate judge in Delaware has granted expedited discovery to help identify “John Doe” defendants tied to alleged naked short selling of its stock in late 2025 and first-half 2026. Jacob Frenkel, co-lead counsel to Lunai and chair of Dickinson Wright’s securities enforcement group, called it a “first step” and said the trades “caused real market harm.” PR Newswire
The case gives shareholders more to track, but it doesn’t solve the listing problem or shore up the balance sheet. In the March quarter, Lunai reported $3.16 million in cash, an accumulated deficit at $512.0 million, and a working-capital deficit of $15.55 million. The company said in the filing those numbers raise “substantial doubt” about its ability to keep going without new funds or another fix.
Lunai posted service revenue of $20,942 for the quarter to March 31, with a net loss of $2.57 million. Losses like this aren’t unusual for biotech companies before they see commercial revenue, but Lunai’s big deficit keeps the shares sensitive to funding, dilution and any calls from Nasdaq.
Lunai has been looking for strategic assets. The company wrapped up a $20 million preferred-stock deal earlier this month, tied to intellectual-property in central nervous system (CNS) research—that’s the brain and spine. CEO David Weinstein called it a step that tackles “persistent challenges in neurological drug development” and said it could let Lunai pursue “partnership, licensing, and non-dilutive funding.” PR Newswire
Oncotelic Therapeutics Inc. is the closest named peer in the latest headlines, saying it gave Lunai worldwide rights to its N2B—nose-to-brain—delivery tech for biodefense and Alzheimer’s in a deal for $12.5 million of Lunai Series B convertible preferred stock. Oncotelic kept rights for other uses, like Parkinson’s and sexual dysfunction.
Lunai shares lagged the broader tape. U.S. stocks ended Friday higher for another weekly win, with the S&P 500 adding 0.4%, the Dow gaining 0.6% and the Nasdaq Composite rising 0.2%, according to the Associated Press. The Nasdaq Biotechnology Index dipped 0.17% to 5,891.46 on Friday.
The risks aren’t hidden. Lunai’s own filings say a reverse split might not boost the stock for long. It could also cut liquidity, stretch out bid-ask spreads, or make the stock jumpier. Lunai also told investors Nasdaq might reject its compliance plan. That could put the stock on OTC markets instead, which usually means thinner trading and makes it harder for the company to raise cash.
Nasdaq is closed Monday because of Memorial Day, leaving the next trading session set for Tuesday, May 26. The focus is on LNAI holding that $1 bid-price line as the June 1 compliance deadline approaches. Traders are also tracking developments in the short-selling case to see if it puts forward any evidence or names that could shift sentiment around the stock.
