Recaps · October 13, 2026

BKYI, October 13: a 4:01 headline, $6.46, and the $2.90 bid

• Small cap
• Momentum
• Main move: pre-market
• News: 4:01 a.m. headline
• Float traded 36x
• Gap and fade
• Lower high
• Bid wall break

Float

1.05 million shares

Volume

37.96 million shares

Previous close

$1.65

Open

$4.09 (up 147.9%)

High

$6.46 at 5:35 a.m.

Close

$2.84

The day before

On October 12, BKYI was quiet. It traded between $1.56 and $1.73 on just 35,559 shares. The official close was $1.65.

Pre-market: the float traded by 4:26 a.m.

The first trade on the 13th came at 4:00 a.m., at $1.65, the same as the close. At 4:01 a.m. GlobeNewsWire ran: “BIO-key Adds New Middle East Government Security Agency Customer, Expanding Regional Footprint”. The stock traded at $1.85 by 4:02.

Then it sat near $1.80 for about 20 minutes, on thin volume. At 4:21 it traded through $2.00. By 4:26 a.m., more shares had traded than exist in the whole float (1.05 million). At 4:27 it went through $3.00.

At 4:42 it traded through $5.00. From $2.01 at 4:25 it ran to $6.11 at 4:45 a.m., up 204%. Then it fell to $4.51 at 4:49, down 26% from $6.11.

For the next 40 minutes it chopped between about $4.50 and $5.30. At 5:09 a 26,485-share sell order went through seven price levels, from $4.54 to $4.48. The low of that stretch was $4.47, also at 5:09.

Here's what happened. At 5:35:01 a single buy order of 32,675 shares went through 54 price levels, from $5.80 to $6.44. The high so far, $6.46, printed in the 5:35 minute, before the bell. That minute traded 372,914 shares. Within six minutes it was back at $5.40.

After a drop to $4.35 at 6:08, at 6:55 a.m. it pushed to $5.55, a lower high under the $6.46 top. Then it slid to $3.97 by 7:03. After that it traded mostly between $3.60 and $4.40 for the rest of the pre-market.

At 8:29 a.m. GlobeNewsWire ran: “BIO-key Names Cybersecurity Veteran Stephen Morrow President of PortalGuard to Drive Accelerated Adoption of its Innovative IAM Solution”. The 8:29 bar closed at $3.72. 24.52 million shares traded before the bell.

The open and the $4.25 wall

Here is what a chart doesn't show. Before the open, an ask wall sat at $4.25. It was first seen at 8:43:32 and peaked at 65,723 shares at 9:21:38, about 6.3% of the float.

Here's what happened. From 9:22:42 to 9:22:52, 22,646 shares traded at exactly $4.25, and the wall was gone at 9:22:53. Buyers ate it. The 9:22 and 9:23 minutes closed at $4.29 and $4.37.

The move did not last. It opened at $4.09, up 148% from the previous close. In the first second, 104,985 shares printed at $4.01 in one trade. It traded as high as $4.30 that minute, then fell. The 9:40 minute dropped to $3.19 on 330,290 shares, and by 9:45 it had touched $2.96.

Late morning: lower and lower

It bounced from $2.96 to $3.99 at 10:09. The last leg started at 10:07, when a buy order of 84,418 shares went through 20 levels, from $3.51 to $3.70. After that it drifted lower.

At 10:59 a 48,875-share sell order went through ten levels, from $3.15 to $3.03. At 11:13 another sell order of 52,788 shares went through 15 levels, from $3.04 to $2.90.

An ask wall at $3.75 was first seen at 10:23:13. It peaked at 81,403 shares at 11:13:28, about 7.8% of the float, and was pulled at 11:32:53. The low of the regular session, $2.69, came at 11:32.

The bid at $2.90

From noon to 2:59 p.m. it was quiet, holding mostly between $2.80 and $3.10.

From 1:54 p.m. on, a bid for a lot of stock sat at exactly $2.90. It peaked at 71,167 shares at 2:01 p.m., about 6.8% of the float.

Here's what happened. At 2:59:45 trades hit $2.90. In under a second, 35,882 shares traded at exactly $2.90 and the bid was gone. It wasn't pulled. Sellers hit it. One of the trades was 22,461 shares at $2.90, and a 47,237-share sell order went through five levels, from $2.90 to $2.86. The stock closed that minute at $2.88 and was at $2.84 by 3:00.

The close and after hours

It closed the regular session at $2.84, 56% under the $6.46 high of the day. That high came before the bell, at 5:35 a.m., 58% above the open.

Regular-session volume was 11.75 million shares. Pre-market was 24.52 million and after hours was 1.68 million. For the whole day, 37.96 million shares traded: the float changed hands about 36 times, at about 9.6 times its normal volume.

After hours it rose from about $2.85 to a high of $3.72 at 5:39 p.m. It was back near $3.12 by 7:59 p.m.

What to take from it

• After the top, the next push stopped lower. $6.46 at 5:35 a.m., then $5.55 at 6:55 a.m.
• Most of the move was gone by the close. It closed at $2.84, 56% below the $6.46 high, and the open at $4.09 was already well below the pre-market top.
• The float traded over before most traders were awake. By 4:26 a.m. more shares had traded than the float holds. The biggest moves of the day came before the 9:30 open.