Shares of NQ Mobile shot up by as much as 8% this morning after the company announced that management will buy some shares. NQ said in November that it remained committed to its previously announced share buyback plan, and today’s announcement comes in connection with the repurchase commitment.
NQ Mobile announces management share purchases
Today in a press release, NQ Mobile announced that Chairman, Co-Founder and Acting Chief Financial Officer Dr. Vincent Wenyong Shi and other members of management have filed plans to buy some shares of the Chinese company.
They filed a 10b5-1 trading plan with the Securities and Exchange Commission to buy about $4 million worth of NQ’s American depository receipt shares. The purchases will be made in transactions on the open market, and the plan was established on Dec. 31.
Management has already purchased 239,500 shares under the plan in transactions on Monday. They paid an average of about $4.14 per share for a total of about $991,000.
NQ buys back shares
In addition to management’s share purchases, NQ Mobile also announced that it had bought back some of its shares in transactions on the open market as part of the previously announced share repurchase plan. The company said in this morning’s press release that it bought back more than $10 million in principal during the trading window given in its share repurchase authorization.
NQ also filed a 10b5-1 trading plan which will remain in effect during the time when trading is closed due to the closing of the fourth quarter. The company said further details about its buyback activities and management share purchases will be reported in its quarterly financial statements.
NQ Mobile aims to boost share price
Shares of NQ have been volatile since short-selling firm Muddy Waters accused the company of accounting fraud. Since then, the Chinese company has been plagued with bad news. NQ Mobile delayed the release of its financial reports multiple times and then posted losses last month. Also there were reports that the company’s co-CEO had disappeared after the announcement that he had left for “personal reasons.”
While battling all the bad news, it seems as if NQ management has been trying to support the company’s stock price through share repurchases. Meanwhile short-sellers continue to circle, with Regal Point Capital adding to its short position last week, a spokesperson for the firm tells ValueWalk.
