Nasdaq Stocks $2 On Radar: SUNW, HYZN, APDN, HUBC, AKBA

The NASDAQ market lists some of the biggest companies in the world and attracts millions of investors every day. It attracts billions of dollars in investments every day and there are vast categories of stocks to choose from. There are stocks that trade under $2 a share and this feature would provide you with a look into five stocks in that category that have made gains recently.

Sunworks Inc (NASDAQ:SUNW) – The company is one of the leading battery storage solutions and solar power providers for commercial, industrial, residential, agricultural, and public works spaces. Yesterday, the Sunworks Inc stock was in prime focus among investors and ended up clocking gains of as much as 28% amidst heavy interest.

On July 12 the company announced that it had appointed Mark Trout as the new Chief Executive Officer of Solcius, the fully owned residential solar business of the company. The appointment had gone into effect on July 10. Trout is based out of Provo, UT, and would report directly to the Chief Executive Officer of Sunworks Gaylon Morris. Trout took over the position from the Chief Financial Officer of Sunworks Jason Bonfigt, who had served the role on an interim basis since July 1, 2022.

On June 8 the company announced that it had gone into a definitive agreement with an ESG focussed institutional investor for the sale and purchase of 4,050,000 shares of Sunworks stock for the price of $1.14 each. It was offered as part of a registered direct offering. The offering had been closed on June 9, 2023, once the customary closing conditions had been met. The company noted at the time that it expected to raise gross proceeds to the tune of $4,617,000 from the offering.

Hyzon Motors Inc (NASDAQ:HYZN) – The company is involved in the development of high-power hydrogen fuel cell technology and also supplies fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) with zero emissions. On Monday, the Hyzon Motors Inc stock was in prime focus among investors and ended up with gains of as much as 27%.

On July 10 the company announced that it had been successful in completing the factory acceptance testing of the first group of nine single-stack 200kW Fuel Cell System (FCS) B-samples at its production facility in Bolingbrook, Illinois. It was a significant new milestone for the company and at the time the company noted that it was on course to announce the state of production and commercialization of its state-of-the-art FCS next year.

It was one of the more notable movers on NASDAQ yesterday in this particular category. The fact that the company completed the testing of the 9 FCS B samples in the first half of the year was an indication of the consistent progress that had been made toward the ultimate goal of commercial production. It was also noted that the milestone was also demonstrative of the growth in the prototype assembly rate at Hyzon.

Applied DNA Sciences Inc (NASDAQ:APDN) – The company’s stock kicked off the new week strongly and ended up with gains of as much as 21% amidst significant interest. Applied DNA Sciences Inc is a leader in the PCR-based DNA technologies space. On July 13 the company announced that it had completed the acquisition of Spindle Biotech Inc, a privately held biotech company at an early stage of development and involved in coming up with a new generation of RNA manufacturing technologies. 

The acquisition could be of considerable strategic importance for Applied DNA Sciences. It would help the company in leveraging its own LinearDNA platform and the high-performance proprietary RNA polymerase from Spindle for developing chemically modified DNA templates which offer significant advantages against traditional DNA-based plasmid mRNA production. One of those advantages is the prevention or reduction of contamination of double-stranded RNA, which may lead to higher mRNA yields.

The second advantage would be the delivery of IVT templates for 14 days on a milligram scale and lastly, the reduction in the complexities involved with the manufacturing of mRNA. The acquisition was completed through the acquisition of all the outstanding shares in Spindle for a cash payment of $625000 and 750000 units in the restricted common stock in Applied DNA.

HUB Security Limited (NASDAQ:HUBC) – The company is involved in the development of Confidential Computing cybersecurity services and solutions. Although there was no material news about the company on Monday, the stock was in action and ended up with gains of 15.50%. On June 13 HUB Security Limited had announced that it had been notified by The NASDAQ Stock Market that it was no longer compliant with one of the listing rules of the exchange.

The company was in violation since the bid price of its stock had gone below $1 over the previous 30 business days. The per share minimum bid price for the stock was $1 for continued listing on the exchange. The notification did not have any immediate effect on the listing status of the stock. HUB Security had been provided with a period of 180 calendar days to regain compliance and it would end on December 6, 2023.

Akebia Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:AKBA) –  The biopharmaceutical company is involved in bringing about improvements in the lives of people suffering from kidney diseases. Akebia Therapeutics Inc came onto the radars of investors yesterday and its stock ended up with gains of 13%. On July 5 the company announced that it had granted two newly appointed employees the option to pick up a total of 24000 shares on June 30, 2023. The options had been granted as an inducement to a new employee who had entered into the company’s employment.

The options had been granted to the employees as per the listing rules of NASDAQ. The exercise price of the options was $0.92 a share and that was equivalent to the closing price of the Akebia Therapeutics stock on the day of the grant. The stock options would vest over a period of four years and 25% of the shares could be vested on the first anniversary.