A technology company based in Roanoke is one step closer to being removed from the Nasdaq Stock Market.
Luna Innovations Inc., which develops fiber-optic sensing and monitoring devices for transportation, energy and other markets, has failed to file either a 2023 annual report or two recent quarterly reports. The company also has filed notice with the Securities and Exchange Commission that financial statements dating back to March 22 are unreliable.
Nasdaq notified Luna in April that it would delist the company from the exchange if it did not provide a plan to file accurate reports. It has sent Luna two more delinquent notices since then. On Monday, Luna reported to the SEC that Nasdaq has scheduled the company for delisting, unless Luna requests an appeal of that determination by Tuesday.
The company wrote that it planned to appeal the determination to a Nasdaq panel “on or prior to” Thursday. That is two days after the deadline.
Lacking an appeal, “trading of the Company’s common stock will be suspended from The Nasdaq Capital Market at the opening of business on October 10, 2024, and a Form 25-NSE will be filed with the SEC, which will remove the Company’s securities from listing and registration on Nasdaq,” the SEC document reads.
The hearing request, should it arrive on time, would stay Nasdaq’s action for 15 days, and Luna plans to request a longer stay that could stretch to 45 days, according to the SEC filing and a company news release on its website.
“Based on materials submitted to Nasdaq by the Company … Nasdaq granted the Company an exception until September 30, 2024, to regain compliance with the Listing Rule,” the documents state.
According to the Luna filing, it received the Nasdaq letter on Oct. 1.
Luna stock was valued at $2.07 a share at the close of Monday trading. Over the past year, its high was $7.92 per share, and the low to date is $1.91, according to its Nasdaq listing. The company’s value began a consistent decline about mid-March, as the company conceded accounting errors and a lack of internal controls related to improper revenue reporting, the first in a series of events that led to a complete turnover in its executive suite.
The company faces multiple lawsuits related to how it has handled the financial statements.