TOPS on September 22, 2026: why it ran

The day, step by step

• Small cap
• Momentum
• Gap and fade
• Main move: pre-market
• Round-number bid
• Float traded pre-market
• Faded after the open

The day before

On September 21, TOPS opened at $0.71 and reached $1.62. The official close was $0.72. 42.06 million shares traded that day.

The last bar after hours was $1.21. So the stock went into the 22nd already well above its close.

Pre-market: the float traded by about 4:30

The first trades on the 22nd were at $1.27, already far above the $0.72 close. After dipping to $1.14 in the first minute, it traded around $1.18 to $1.30 until 4:27 a.m. Then it turned.

By about 4:30 a.m., roughly 4.3 million shares had traded, about the size of the whole float (4.24 million). The 4:28 minute went from $1.26 to a high of $1.40 on 515,988 shares. Two buy sweeps hit within two seconds: 85,414 shares from $1.30 to $1.34 at 4:28:51, then 100,934 shares from $1.34 to $1.38 at 4:28:53.

At 4:47 another buy sweep took 93,896 shares from $1.43 to $1.47, and the minute reached $1.49. At 5:03 a.m. it hit $1.57.

It dipped to $1.32 at 5:17, then pushed up again. It reached $1.62 at 5:42 a.m., and touched $1.62 again at 6:01. That was the high so far, both times before the bell.

Above the price, ask walls were building. At $1.70, first seen at 4:48:01, the wall peaked at 255,950 shares at 9:38 a.m., 6.0% of the float. It was pulled at 9:51:12. The stock never traded above $1.62. At $1.60, a wall first showed at 6:03:30 and peaked at 151,325 shares at 9:01.

There was a bid too. At 6:01:27 a bid of up to 126,755 shares sat at $1.53 (3.0% of the float). It was pulled at 6:02:34. Three single prints of 17,000 to 20,000 shares crossed at 5:13, 5:54 and 6:06.

After the top it bled. A 124,873-share sell sweep went from $1.41 to $1.38 at 6:37:07. An 86,459-share sell sweep went from $1.42 to $1.40 at 7:40:45, and the 7:53 minute dropped to $1.29. It was back to $1.41 by 8:59. 31.10 million shares traded before the bell, more than seven times the float.

The 9:25 headline and the open

At 9:25 a.m. GlobeNewsWire ran: “Top Ships Inc. Provides Response to Unusual Market Action”. The stock had been near $1.30. The 9:25 minute fell to $1.24 and closed at $1.25 on 309,943 shares, and the next three minutes got wilder: the 9:28 minute ranged from $1.13 to $1.39 on 659,315 shares.

At 9:24:57 an ask wall had also appeared at $1.50.

It opened at $1.29, up 80% from the previous close. 205,464 shares printed at $1.29 at 9:30:00. Then it fell. A 101,738-share sell sweep ran from $1.20 to $1.16 at 9:30:53, and the 9:32 minute got down to $1.08.

A 81,563-share buy sweep went from $1.11 to $1.20 at 9:32:34. It did not hold. By 9:39 the stock was at about $1.01. That minute traded 762,662 shares, including a 58,518-share print at $1.01 on the bid and a 100,193-share buy sweep from $1.01 to $1.03. At 9:42 a 100,881-share sell sweep went from $1.01 down to $0.9962, and the minute touched $0.935.

The bid at $1.00

From 9:44 a.m. on, someone was bidding for a lot of stock at exactly $1.00. It built to a peak of 188,436 shares at 9:58 a.m., 4.4% of the float. Meanwhile the stock bounced to $1.15 at 9:50, then slid back to $1.01.

Here's what happened. At 10:00:25 trades began at $1.00. In 10.6 seconds, 114,179 shares traded at exactly $1.00 and the bid was gone at 10:00:37. It wasn't pulled. Sellers ate it. The 10:00 minute traded down to $0.9717 on 301,119 shares, then closed at $0.991 and was back at $1.00 two minutes later.

It chopped around $1.00 after that. At 10:13 it popped to $1.07, then dropped to $0.9221 in the same minute on 424,405 shares. An ask wall appeared at $1.05 at 10:28:19 and peaked at 158,474 shares at 10:42:46.

Under $1.00 again

Here's what happened. The 10:51 minute closed at $0.95. Then the 10:52 minute fell to $0.8687 on 374,622 shares, the low after the open, and closed at $0.8741. The stock did not trade above $0.97 again until 12:20.

It crept back to $0.95 by 11:29 and reached $1.02 at 12:22 p.m. A 77,182-share buy sweep from $0.9987 to $1.02 hit at 1:13 p.m. It dropped to $0.9192 at 1:41 p.m., and a 28,080-share print crossed at $1.01 on the bid at 2:35. By 2:50 it was near $0.96, where it sat until about 3:20. Far above, the $1.50 ask wall from 9:24 peaked at 155,487 shares at 3:09 p.m.

Late, it slid again. The 3:59 minute traded 295,834 shares, including a 34,307-share print at $0.905. It closed at $0.89, 45% under the $1.62 high of the day. That high came at 5:42 a.m., 26% above where it opened.

The regular session traded 16.25 million shares. Add the 31.10 million before the bell and 47.35 million shares traded from 4 a.m. to 4 p.m., about 11 times the float. Relative volume was 22 times normal.

After hours

After the close it bounced to $0.95 by 4:25 p.m. At 4:30 p.m. the company filed a 6-K (a foreign company's current report). At 4:35 p.m. it filed a 424B3 (a prospectus filing).

The stock was at $0.87 at 4:35. It slid to $0.764 by 4:54 p.m. 1.45 million shares traded after hours.

What to take from it

• The stock closed 45% below its pre-market high. The high came at 5:42 a.m. at $1.62. It closed at $0.89.
• The big bid at $1.00 did not hold. The 188,436-share bid at $1.00 was eaten in 10.6 seconds, and the stock traded under it within the minute.
• The minutes around the 9:25 headline were the widest of the morning. The 9:28 minute ranged from $1.13 to $1.39, the stock opened at $1.29, and it was at $1.01 ten minutes after the bell.

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