RDHL on August 31, 2026: why it ran

The day, step by step

• Small cap
• Momentum
• Main move: pre-market
• Catalyst: news
• Halted three times
• Bid wall break
• Float traded 10x
• Gap, run and fade

Before the halt: almost no trading

On August 28, RDHL closed at $0.65 on 29,660 shares. It was a quiet, sub-dollar stock with a 5.11-million-share float.

On the 31st it barely traded before the news. Only four pre-market minutes show any trades, 41 shares in total, the first at 4:59 a.m. around $0.66 and the last at 5:43 a.m. at $0.68.

At 6:57 a.m. it was halted (news pending) with the last trade at $0.68. At 7:00 a.m. PRNewsWire ran: “RedHill Divests Talicia® to Apotex for $18 Million Cash Upfront Plus Milestones to Fuel Strategic Growth Opportunities.” At 7:03 a.m. the company filed a 6-K, a foreign company's current report. The stock was still halted for both.

The reopen and the spike to $2.16

It reopened at 7:35 a.m. at around $1.07, 58% above where it stopped. There was no trading in between.

It ran hard. Each minute from 7:35 through 7:39 traded between 422,000 and 1.31 million shares. By 7:39 a.m., more shares had traded than exist in the whole float (5.11 million).

The high so far was $2.16 at 7:39 a.m., before the bell. By 7:42 it had traded as low as $1.67.

It bounced to $1.97 at 7:40 and $1.94 at 7:42, both lower highs under the $2.16 top. From there it slid to $1.31 by 7:51 and spent the rest of the pre-market mostly between $1.23 and $1.51. 32.44 million shares traded before the bell.

The open and a halt

It opened at $1.37, up 110% from the previous close. A single 79,095-share print went through at $1.39 at 9:30:01. At 9:35 it jumped to $1.54, and the next minute it reached $1.58.

At 9:36:51 it was halted (a volatility pause) with the last trade at $1.58. A bid wall at $1.58 had been first seen at 9:36:37, before the halt, and peaked at 369,722 shares at 9:36:47, 7.2% of the float. It reopened at 9:41:51 at $1.54. A 370,501-share print went through at $1.54 on the reopen, and the $1.58 wall was gone one second later.

It didn't hold. At 9:42:19 it was halted again (a volatility pause) with the last trade at $1.39. An ask wall at $1.39 had been first seen at 9:42:05 and peaked at 343,020 shares at 9:42:19, 6.7% of the float. It was gone by 9:44:17, still inside the halt.

It reopened at 9:47:19 at $1.30, 6% below where it stopped. That minute traded over a million shares, and the low was $1.21. A 242,754-share print at $1.30 and a 66,769-share sell sweep from $1.37 to $1.28 both came at the reopen.

The bid at $1.25

From 9:48 a.m. on, a large bid sat at exactly $1.25. It peaked at 146,732 shares at 9:50 a.m., about 3% of the float. Another bid at $1.20 peaked at 151,781 shares at 9:48:31. Above the price, an ask wall at $1.35 had been sitting there since 9:49.

Starting at 9:52:59, sellers hit the $1.25 bid. In 6 seconds, 129,886 shares traded at exactly $1.25 and the wall was gone. It wasn't pulled. Sellers hit it. The $1.20 bid was eaten at 9:53:08.

The 9:53 minute traded 870,438 shares and closed at $1.12, down from $1.25. At 10:09 a 194,748-share sell sweep ran from $1.11 to $1.07.

The rest of the day

From 10:15 a.m. until 2:54 p.m. it sat in a narrow band, between $1.01 and $1.15. Volume dried up, and many minutes traded only a few thousand shares.

At 2:54 p.m. it broke. The minute opened at $1.03 and low was $0.96, on 366,907 shares. Two sell sweeps went through at 2:54:21, one of 64,375 shares from $1.03 to $0.9899 and one of 131,021 shares from $0.9899 to $0.9593. It was the first time under $1.00 in the regular session.

It closed at $0.91, 58% under the $2.16 high of the day. That high came before the bell, at 7:39 a.m. The low after the open was $0.90 at 3:51 p.m.

After hours it kept sliding, to $0.82 by 5:53 p.m., and the last bar of the night, at 7:59 p.m., closed at $0.86.

The volume: 32.44 million shares pre-market, 16.37 million in the regular session and 1.44 million after hours. For the whole day, 50.24 million shares traded: the float changed hands about 10 times, at over 4,000 times its normal volume.

What to take from it

• A halt can reopen higher than it stopped. The 6:57 a.m. halt stopped at $0.68 and reopened at $1.07.
• A 5,000-share buy cost very different amounts at different reopens. At 7:35 it averaged $115 over the screen. At 9:47 it averaged $0 over. It depends on how deep the book is in that second.
• After the top, the next pushes stopped lower, and the support that looked big didn't hold. $2.16 at 7:39 a.m., then $1.97 at 7:40 and $1.94 at 7:42. A 146,732-share bid at $1.25 broke in 6 seconds and the stock fell to $1.12 within the minute.

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