Recaps · August 25, 2026

DAIC, August 25: the $5.05 regular-session top, one halt, and the wall at $3.32

• Small cap
• Momentum
• Gap and run
• Day 2 after a spike
• Lower high
• Halted once
• Wall break
• Float traded 60x

Float

853,881 shares

Volume

60.47 million shares

Previous close

$1.73

Open

$3.65 (up 111.0%)

High

$5.05 at 9:38 a.m.

Halts

1 (10:18 a.m.)

Close

$3.89

The day before

On August 24, DAIC ran from $0.44 to $6.26. It gave most of it back and closed at $1.73.

After hours it was back up to $3.91. So the stock came into the 25th far above its official close.

Pre-market: the float traded by 4:12 a.m.

The first trades on the 25th were at $3.50, already above the $1.73 close. By 4:12 a.m., more shares had traded than exist in the whole float (853,881).

It ran to $3.66 at 4:36 a.m., then slid to $2.71 at 6:16 a.m., down 26%.

Then it ran twice. From $2.82 at 6:45 a.m. it went to $3.58 at 6:56 a.m., up 27%. From $3.22 at 6:59 a.m. it went to $4.00 at 7:00 a.m., up 24%. By 7:07 a.m. the volume was ten times the float.

The last push came from $3.48 at 8:42 a.m. to the pre-market high, $4.27 at 8:45 a.m. (up 23%). 21.02 million shares traded before the bell.

The open and the first run

It opened at $3.65, up 111% from the previous close. A 169,088-share print went through at $3.65 at 9:30:01.

At 9:31 a.m. it cleared the pre-market high of $4.27. From $3.53 at 9:30 a.m. it ran to $4.83 at 9:31 a.m., up 37%. The 9:31 minute alone traded 1.84 million shares. A single buy order swept 127,929 shares from $4.28 to $4.58 across 31 price levels.

It held between about $4.20 and $4.90 for the next few minutes.

At 9:37:22 a buy order took 84,722 shares from $4.92 to $5.00 across 9 price levels. From $4.25 at 9:35 a.m. it ran to $5.05, the regular-session high so far, at 9:38 a.m. At 9:37:58 a sell order then hit 68,883 shares from $4.83 down to $4.73. Within four minutes the price was back at $4.06.

A lower high at $4.70, then the drop

It came back once more. At 10:16 a.m. it pushed to $4.70, a lower high under the $5.05 top. A buy order took 109,633 shares from $4.49 to $4.70 at 10:16:00.

That was the top of the move. At 10:16:43 a sell order took 94,319 shares from $4.22 down to $4.02. The 10:16 candle fell to $3.56 and closed at $3.83 on 972,016 shares. The next minute it reached $3.32.

The halt and the wall at $3.32

At 10:18 a.m. it was halted (a volatility pause) with the last trade at $3.32.

This is the part a chart doesn't show you. Stock was offered at exactly $3.32 almost as soon as the drop got there. The first wall showed up at 10:17:50 and peaked at 210,878 shares at 10:18:01, about a quarter of the float. It was pulled at 10:19:50. Eight seconds later a second wall appeared at $3.32 and peaked at 84,524 shares at 10:21:03, about 10% of the float.

It reopened at 10:23 a.m. at $3.15, 5% below where it stopped. A 117,181-share print went through at $3.15 right at 10:23:04.

At 10:23:11 trades began printing at $3.32. In under a second, 62,442 shares traded at exactly $3.32 and the wall was gone. It wasn't pulled. Buyers ate it.

The rest of the day

The bounce after the reopen didn't hold. It slid to $2.88 at 10:48 a.m. and $2.85 at 11:20 a.m., the low after the open. It then rose again, reaching $4.21 at 12:27 p.m., and closed the regular session at $3.89.

Through the close, pre-market and regular session together, 51.45 million shares traded: the float changed hands about 60 times, and relative volume for the day was about 23 times normal.

After hours

After hours it ran from $3.57 at 4:16 p.m. to $6.49 by 5:16 p.m., up 82%. That was higher than any price in the regular session.

What to take from it

• After the regular-session top, the next push stopped lower. $5.05 at 9:38 a.m., then $4.70 at 10:16 a.m. Right after that, the stock fell from $4.70 to $3.32 in two minutes.
• A halt can reopen lower than it stopped. The 10:18 a.m. halt stopped at $3.32 and reopened at $3.15.
• Right after the wall broke, a market buy cost more than the screen. At 10:23:13 the screen said $3.40, but 5,000 shares averaged $3.47.