Recaps · August 21, 2026

EXYN, August 21: the $1.52 bid wall, a run through $2.00, and the $2.67 top

• Small cap
• Momentum
• Main move: midday
• Low float
• Bid wall break
• Round-number break
• No halts
• Lower high after the top

Float

7.95 million shares

Volume

5.47 million shares

Previous close

$1.58

Open

$1.65 (up 4.4%)

High

$2.67 at 12:35 p.m.

Close

$2.17

Before the open

EXYN closed at $1.58 on August 20. The day before it had traded between $1.50 and $2.07. The only news in the data is from that day: at 7:38 a.m. on August 20, the company announced a new interim CEO and a new chairman. There was no news on the 21st.

The first trade on the 21st was $1.64 at 4:00 a.m., on 1,000 shares. Pre-market was thin. Only 7,991 shares traded before the bell, about 0.1% of the 7.95 million share float. The pre-market high was $1.75 at 7:21 a.m., and the stock spent most of the morning between $1.60 and $1.70.

The open and the bid at $1.52

It opened at $1.65, up 4% from the previous close. It poked up to $1.73 at 9:31, then slid.

From 9:30 a.m. on, the Level 2 book showed a large bid at exactly $1.52. The bid peaked at 50,201 shares, about 0.6% of the float, right at the open. As the price slid, it was falling toward that bid. It reached $1.61 at 9:36 and $1.55 at 9:43.

At 9:44:09 a sell order reached $1.52. In under a second, 39,350 shares traded at exactly $1.52 and the bid was gone. It wasn't pulled. Sellers hit it. One 40,000-share sell order went through three price levels, from $1.54 down to $1.52. The 9:44 minute traded 47,598 shares, and $1.52 was the low of the day.

It didn't fall any further. By 9:57 it was back at $1.58.

Drifting up from $1.58

From $1.58 at 9:57 it drifted up. At 10:35 it jumped from $1.75 to $1.83 on 6,956 shares.

At 10:42 it traded through $2.00, reaching $2.12. At 10:43 it hit $2.21, up 40% from $1.58, on 91,798 shares in one minute. At 10:46 it pushed to $2.28 on 155,017 shares. No halt came during this run.

The drop to $1.81

The turn was fast. The 10:48 minute traded 208,318 shares, the most of the morning, and dropped to $1.91. At 10:48:01 a buy order swept three levels from $2.13 to $2.15. Thirteen seconds later, an 18,235-share sell order went through six levels, from $2.02 down to $1.97.

After a bounce to $2.02, it slid and chopped between $1.82 and $1.94, hitting $1.81 at 11:18 a.m. That is down 21% from $2.28.

The afternoon climb

From $1.91 at 11:32 it climbed again, more slowly. Over the next hour it rose to $2.21, mostly on under 25,000 shares a minute. Then the 12:32 minute closed at $2.21 on 45,660 shares.

The 12:33 minute reached $2.44 on 118,377 shares. The 12:34 minute reached $2.57. At 12:35 it hit $2.67, the high of the day, on 249,859 shares in one minute. At 12:35:19 a 13,937-share buy swept three levels, from $2.54 to $2.57.

The top lasted moments. Within three minutes it was back at $2.27. At 12:38:19 a 23,443-share buy swept $2.32 to $2.35, and ten seconds later a 15,027-share sell swept $2.30 to $2.28. At 12:45:45 another sell, 14,217 shares through six levels from $2.08 to $2.03, helped carry it to $2.03 at 12:45 p.m. That is down 24% from $2.67.

The rest of the day

It came back once more. At 1:39 p.m. it pushed to $2.51, a lower high under the $2.67 top. At 1:59 p.m. a 13,256-share sell swept from $2.31 to $2.28, and it dipped to $2.14 at 2:00.

Two more book details came later. At 12:50 a bid of up to 43,141 shares showed up at $1.75, far below the price. At 2:19 an ask wall formed at $2.60, peaking at 67,884 shares at 3:57 p.m. The stock stayed under it for the rest of the regular session.

The afternoon was quiet: $2.08 at 3:03 p.m., and $2.18 in the last regular-session minute. After hours another 136,234 shares traded.

By the close, 5.33 million shares had traded: about two-thirds of the float changed hands, at 16 times normal volume.

What to take from it

• A big bid wall can be a level that fails. The 50,201-share bid at $1.52 held for 14 minutes and then went in under a second. The day's low printed at that price.
• After the top, the next push stopped lower. $2.67 at 12:35 p.m., then $2.51 at 1:39 p.m. The second try came with less force.
• Fast spikes on a small float can reverse in minutes. From $2.67 it was back to $2.27 in three minutes.