Recaps · August 21, 2026

SDOT, August 21: three halts, a thin book at each reopen, and $19.95

• Small cap
• Momentum
• Main move: the morning
• Catalyst: news (after the move)
• Round-number test
• Halt run
• Halted three times
• Faded into the close

Float

1.29 million shares

Volume

8.02 million shares

Previous close

$8.44

Open

$8.24 (up 2.4%)

High

$19.95 at 11:20 a.m.

Halts

3 (9:53 a.m. and 10:21 a.m. and 10:41 a.m.)

Close

$13.29

Pre-market: quiet, then a dip

The previous close was $8.44. The first trade of the 21st was $8.50 at 4:00 a.m. The pre-market high was $8.74 at 4:53 a.m. Only 6,354 shares traded before the bell, so very little happened.

At 7:00 a.m. it dipped to $8.24. It opened at $8.24, down 2%, and touched $8.20 in the first minute. That was the low so far.

The climb toward $10

For the first few minutes it sat around $8.20 to $8.30. At 9:39 it started to climb, and by 9:45 it was at $9.07. Volume picked up too: 7,398 shares traded in the 9:49 minute.

At 9:52 it traded through $10.00 for the first time today. At 9:53:42 it was halted (a volatility pause) with the last trade at $10.65.

Three halts

It reopened at 10:03:42 at $11.71, 10% above where it stopped. The first trade was a single print of 20,220 shares. It ran to $12.77 in the 10:04 minute.

At 10:21:10 it was halted again, with the last trade at $13.35. It reopened at 10:26:10 at $13.76, 3% above the stop, on a 24,899-share print. By 10:30 more shares had traded than exist in the whole float (1.29 million). It reached $15.62 in the 10:32 minute.

At 10:41:00 it was halted a third time, with the last trade at $17.31. This time it reopened lower. At 10:46:00 it came back at $16.89, 2% below where it stopped, on a 30,434-share print. In that first minute it traded as low as $15.25. The high of the run so far was $17.94 at 10:47.

Back above $18

After the halts it chopped between about $15 and $17. At 11:14 a buyer swept 19,126 shares through $17.49 to $17.80, and a second buy of 40,645 shares went from $17.79 to $18.56 one second later. By 11:16 it was at $18.93. Then it paused around $18.30 to $18.60.

At 11:20:31 a buy order of 29,267 shares went through $18.34 to $19.18 across 61 price levels. The high of the day printed at $19.95 in the 11:20 minute. Within three minutes it was back at $17.50.

At 11:23:48, after the high, an ask wall showed up at $20.00. It peaked at 24,090 shares at 11:26:42, 1.9% of the float.

The fade

It slid to $15.22 by 11:40 and was near $14.17 at noon. At 12:58 it pushed to $14.93, well under the $19.95 top.

At 1:19 p.m. Benzinga ran: “Sadot Group Stock Soars Friday: What's Driving the Action?” The stock was trading around $13.85 at that minute. The headline came about two hours after the high.

At 1:39 p.m. it dropped to $12.66, and $12.50 at 1:47 p.m. was the low after the top. At 3:27 a 15,160-share print at $14.02 hit the ask and it bounced to $14.79 by 3:29. It faded again and closed at $13.29, 33% below the high.

Through the close, 7.24 million shares traded: the float changed hands about 5.6 times, at about 100 times its normal volume.

After hours

Right after the close it jumped. By 4:02 p.m. it had reached $16.39, higher than any regular-session price after 11:39 a.m. By 5:00 p.m. it was around $14.60. At 5:00 p.m. the company filed an 8-K (a current report). After hours volume was 772,435 shares.

What to take from it

• The first halt reopen had the thinnest book measured. At 10:03:43 the screen said $11.89 with 11 shares there, and a 5,000-share buy averaged $12.71. At the second reopen (10:26:11) the same order cost only $110 more than the screen.
• A halt can reopen higher or lower than it stopped. The first two reopened above ($10.65 to $11.71, $13.35 to $13.76). The third reopened below ($17.31 to $16.89).
• After the top, the bounces stayed well below it. $19.95 at 11:20 a.m., then $14.93 at 12:58 p.m. It closed at $13.29, 33% below the high.