Plug Power may be de-listed from NASDAQ

The Nasdaq Stock Market has notified Plug Power Inc. that it is being delisted because of its low stock price, but Plug is appealing the decision.

Plug Power received the Nasdaq staff determination letter on Tuesday. Nasdaq said the fuel cell developer will be delisted because its stock price did not maintain a minimum closing price of $1 a share for a period of 10 consecutive business days by Dec. 6.

Plug, which has 138 employees at its Latham headquarters and plant, said it is filing a request with the Nasdaq panel to stay the delisting decision and hold a hearing. At the hearing, Plug says it plans to present its plan for regaining compliance.

Reid Hislop, Plug's vice president of marketing and investor relations, said the stock is actively trading on Nasdaq. Plug has until Dec. 14 to request a hearing with Nasdaq's Hearing Request and Process Panel. Hearings typically occur within 30-45 days of the request. The panel will then make a decision with five or six weeks from the hearing date, Hislop said.

Plug’s stock closed 39 cents a share on Tuesday. Its 52-week high is 81 cents, and its 52-week low is 36 cents. Plug’s symbol is PLUG.

Hislop said the company expects that as Plug continues to make and deliver products to customers and grow the business, "the market will react favorably to that. But when those things come together is anybody's guess."

If Nasdaq decides to delist Plug, Hislop said the company would trade over the counter.

"Our concern as a public company," he said, "is we want to attract ... institutional investors. The institutional investors are more likely to trade in stock that's over a dollar."

Source: Richard A. D'Errico, The Business Review