StockerYale regains Nasdaq compliance

StockerYale, the Salem-based fiberoptics manufacturer, learned last week that it is in compliance with Nasdaq rules after its stock price remained over $1 a share for at least 10 consecutive days.
The company, whose stock traded below $1 from April to September in 2005, could have been delisted by the exchange.
The company has been under a cloud since April 2004, when the company had touted a lucrative defense contract that was actually part of an existing contract.
When it announced that the contract wasn’t a new one, the company’s inflated stock price took a nosedive. Before the stock plummeted, however, CEO Mark Blodgett and his father Lawrence Blodgett — who sits on the board of directors — sold off a large number of shares, prompting a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation over whether the Blodgetts either manipulated the stock price or used insider information to time its stock sales.
The company reached a settlement with the SEC in May, with the Blodgetts agreeing to pay a reported $900,000 without admitting to any wrongdoing.
While the stock initially shot up with the settlement, it continued to flounder as a securities class action was filed against the company around similar issues and the company continued to lose money. The operating loss for the second quarter was $907,000.
While the company traded above $1 for much of September, shortly after the beginning of October, its price dipped under $1 again. At deadline, it was trading for 89 cents a share. – BOB SANDERS