Trading Activity In Emerging Names Increased On OTC Markets In June

The following post was written and/or published as a collaboration between Benzinga’s in-house sponsored content team and a financial partner of Benzinga.

Bellweather companies like Roche Holding Ltd RHHBY, Fannie Mae FNMA, and Experian plc EXPGY remained among the most actively traded names on OTC Markets in June, though data from OTC Markets Group shows that a number of more emerging companies also saw large volume increases.

Overall, dollar trading volume on the OTCQX Best Market, the top tier of OTC Markets, rose 5% from May to June. This slight increase coincided with a steady (relative to recent months) rise in the market. The OTCQX Composite Index rose 3% in June and oscillated within a 96 point range, its smallest range since February.

On the OTCQB Venture Market, home to more early stage companies, volatility remains elevated. Dollar trading volume on the OTCQB Market rose 49% as the OTCQB Venture Index rose about 10%.

Companies That Experienced Big Volume Increases

As is typically the case, Roche and the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust GBTC were the two most actively traded securities on OTCQX in June. But it was actually the Grayscale Ethereum Trust ETHE that experienced one of the greatest increases in dollar volume.

More than $275 million worth of ETHE shares traded in the ethereum-backed security June, a 593% increase from May. That represents roughly 45% of ETHE’s year-to-date volume.

Air Canada ACDVF experienced a 147% increase in trading volume last month. The company had previously announced layoffs of roughly 20,000 employees in May as it copes with reduced air travel. And yet, roughly 53% of Air Canada’s year-to-date volume occurred in June as traders may have been positioning themselves for an economic reopening.

Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. SMICY was also among the most actively traded names thanks to a 205% dollar volume increase from May to June. SMICY has been on a big run of late, opening June at $11.50 per share and hitting as high as $27.54 as recently as July 13.

And in a sector that is notoriously volatile, multi-state cannabis operator Planet 13 Holdings Inc. PLNHF experienced a 595% dollar volume increase in June, by far the largest increase among cannabis companies. PLNHF opened June at $1.31, and the following day the company reported a 21% increase in year-over-year revenue during the first quarter. That catalyst helped shares get as high as $2.65 on July 20.

On the OTCQB Market, CytoDyn Inc. CYDY remained the most actively traded security for the month and entire year. Shares of the Washington-based pharma company reached an all-time high of $10.01 on June 30.

June was also a big month for a number of other small-cap biotech names, including
Byrna Technologies BYRN, Innovation Pharmaceuticals Inc. IPIX, and Humanigen, Inc. HGEN. All three securities experienced month-over-month volume increases of 400% or more in June.

Below is a list of the most active securities on the OTCQX and OTCQB markets in June.

OTCQX

OTCQB

Photo by Ethan McArthur on Unsplash

The preceding post was written and/or published as a collaboration between Benzinga’s in-house sponsored content team and a financial partner of Benzinga. Although the piece is not and should not be construed as editorial content, the sponsored content team works to ensure that any and all information contained within is true and accurate to the best of their knowledge and research. This content is for informational purposes only and not intended to be investing advice.