New York, Feb 17, 2026, 05:00 EST — Premarket
- SMX is slated to begin trading Tuesday on a split-adjusted basis, following the company’s 1-for-4.882812 reverse split.
- Shares finished Friday at $11.00, sinking 21.6%. That followed a steep slide the previous session.
- On top of that, traders are weighing a fresh shareholder rights plan, which kicks in at 10% and uses March 2 as its record date.
Shares of SMX (Security Matters) Public Limited Company are set to begin trading Tuesday on a split-adjusted basis, following a reverse stock split that kicks in ahead of the U.S. market open. (NASDAQ Trader)
The company is moving ahead with a 4.8828125-to-1 reverse split, trimming the outstanding share count from around 10 million to about 2 million. Fractional shares won’t be issued, it said. In a filing, the firm pointed to a new CUSIP and told investors to expect the change in their brokerage accounts starting Feb. 18 or later. (Nasdaq)
Reverse splits boost a stock’s price tag by reducing share count. The company’s market value stays put, but it can reshape trading — particularly for microcaps, where liquidity can dry up in a hurry.
Shares of SMX finished Friday at $11.00, tumbling 21.6% for the day. That drop followed a 16.1% slide in the previous session, price data show. (StockAnalysis)
The two-day drop put the stock on track for Tuesday’s reset, now carrying a tighter float. The chart’s about to shift too, once prices reflect the consolidation. Traders might see more volatility, wider spreads—regardless of any new fundamental news.
Derivatives desks have their own technical shift ahead. According to the Options Clearing Corporation, SMX options will be relabeled as SMX1. Contracts get tweaked: holders receive 20 new shares, and any fractional share piece gets settled in cash.
Off to the side, there’s another move in play. SMX has put a shareholder rights plan in place—a so-called “poison pill,” according to a filing—that management says should shield investors from “coercive or otherwise unfair takeover tactics.” Shareholders of record as of March 2 are getting the rights. If anyone snaps up 10% or more of the company without board sign-off, the plan kicks in. The Series A preferred share can be exercised at just $0.0001. (SEC)
Financing is still in play. SMX, in a February filing, bumped up the commitment on its standby equity purchase agreement to $250 million from the previous $100 million. The company also reported it had tapped roughly $8.9 million from that facility so far, handing over 685,471 ordinary shares to the counterparty. (SEC)
The moving parts here are a double-edged sword. Reverse splits might shore up a price, but they can also squeeze liquidity and make swings sharper. A rights plan? That could block a hostile approach, though it may also tamp down any buyout buzz. Then there’s the bigger equity line—handy for runway, but dilution risk stays in the spotlight.
The real test comes Tuesday, when trading kicks off on a split-adjusted basis—watch for volume, spreads, maybe a sharp move at the open. Then attention shifts to Feb. 18, with account updates due to clear through broker systems, and March 2, the record date for the rights distribution.
