New York, February 13, 2026, 19:36 EST — After-hours
Moolec Science SA (Nasdaq: MLEC) shares jumped 69.2% to $8.63 at Friday’s close, from $5.10 a day earlier, after the company highlighted results from its GLASO1 safflower program. The stock swung between $8.12 and $12.23 and volume topped 50 million shares; it was down 7.9% at $7.95 in after-hours trading by 7:21 p.m. EST. (StockAnalysis)
The move matters because it speaks to a basic question for Moolec: can it push an engineered crop through real-world processing, not just small plots and lab work. Crushing — pressing harvested oilseeds into oil — is a chokepoint for any crop-based ingredient story, and it tends to attract momentum money when a company claims it can clear it.
Gamma-linolenic acid, or GLA, is an omega‑6 fatty acid found in some botanical seed oils and often sold into the supplements market. Moolec is trying to produce a high‑GLA oil from engineered safflower, which it argues could be made at scale using existing infrastructure if the specs hold up season to season. (PMC)
In a statement released early Friday, the company said commercial-scale crushing of GLASO1 safflower confirmed roughly 45% GLA concentration and showed compatibility with standard U.S. crushing operations. It said its 2025 U.S. campaign covered 1,100 acres and averaged about 2,200 pounds per acre, up from about 1,400 pounds per acre in 2024. (ACCESS Newswire)
“The U.S. GLASO1 platform has reached an inflection point,” chief executive Alejandro Antalich said. He framed the next step as turning the milestone into “sustainable, recurring revenue.” (Nasdaq)
For traders, Friday’s tape looked like a classic microcap squeeze: big volume, wide intraday range, fast reversals. The after-hours pullback hints that at least some of the day’s buyers were short-term.
The update was operational rather than financial, and it leaves the key question hanging in the air: who buys the oil, and on what terms. Until that’s clearer, the stock is likely to trade on headlines and positioning.
But the step from a crushing run to commercial sales can get messy. Crop performance can vary with weather and logistics, and supplement buyers tend to demand tight consistency and steady supply, not one-off wins.
U.S. markets are closed on Monday for Presidents Day, extending the weekend for a stock already prone to sharp gaps. Trading resumes Tuesday, when liquidity can be thin and price moves can overshoot. (Nasdaq)
Investors are also tracking Moolec’s Nasdaq compliance calendar. A January filing said the company must update the hearings panel on “derecognition” proceedings (an accounting step that removes items from the balance sheet) by the end of February 2026 and deliver updated pro forma financials by the end of March, with required public disclosures and compliance due by May 13.
