Hindsight Markets Recaps Small-cap stocks on August 7, 2026
VATE, August 7: two pre-market spikes to $15.46 and $15.48, and a fade to $12.12
VATE opened up 49% after news, ran to $14.03, then gave back most of the run by the close.
News via Stock News API
What happened
Two spikes before the bell
The only news was an earnings call transcript at 12:14 a.m. VATE had closed at $7.41 and opened the pre-market at $10.00. In the 7:22 minute it spiked to $15.46, then closed that minute at $11.46.
Stop It's 7:33. VATE is at $13.58. It was $12.03 at 7:30. The pre-market high so far is $15.46 at 7:22. Would you buy here?
Press play: the real Level 2, tape and chart run from 7:30 a.m. and stop at 7:33 a.m. ET for your call.
It made the day's high, $15.48, in the 7:34 minute. By 7:40 it was down to $10.49.
The bid that left
It opened at $11.04 and climbed to a lower high of $14.03 at 10:57. From 10:58:53, a big bid sat at $12.00.
Stop It's 12:12. VATE is at $13.07. It closed the 12:11 minute at $13.11, and a bid for stock sits at $12.00 below. Would you buy here?
Press play: the real Level 2, tape and chart run from 12:09 p.m. and stop at 12:12 p.m. ET for your call.
A sell order hit at 12:12:26, and it sank toward the bid. At 12:21:00 the $12.00 bid was pulled, after peaking near 29K shares. It closed at $12.12.
What to take from it: On this day, the big $12.00 bid was pulled instead of holding the price.
Replay VATE's day
It starts at 7:15 a.m. ET with the real Level 2, time and sales and chart, from the same feed the replay plays, stops at 7:18 a.m. and asks what you would do. Or press Play on any moment in How it traded.
The details
How it traded, step by step
Gap, run, gave some back. It gapped up 49.0% to $11.04 at the open, ran from the open to the high of $14.03 in 87 minutes, then gave back 64% of that move by 4:00 p.m., trading at $12.12, still above the open.
| Time (ET) | What happened | Watch it |
|---|---|---|
| 12:14 a.m. | News (Seeking Alpha): INNOVATE Corp. (VATE) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Prepared Remarks Transcript | |
| 4:00 a.m. | First trade 20% above the previous close of $7.41 | |
| 7:34 a.m. | Pre-market high, $15.48 | |
| 7:34 a.m. | High of the day to the close, $15.48 | |
| 9:30 a.m. | The open: $11.04, up 49.0% from the previous close | |
| 11:17 a.m. | Volume since 4:00 a.m. passes the whole float, 5.60 million shares | |
| 3:59 p.m. | Last trade before the 4:00 p.m. close, $12.12, 21.7% below the high |
The shape's name comes from a fixed rule, not a judgement (how shapes are named). Halts are in the halt table below.
The day in numbers
- Previous close
- $7.41
- Open, 9:30 a.m.
- $11.04
- Gap at the open
- +49.0%
- Pre-market high
- $15.48 at 7:34 a.m.
- High, 4 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- $15.48 at 7:34 a.m.
- Low, 4 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- $9.44
- Close, 4 p.m.
- $12.12
- Change at 4 p.m.
- +63.6%
- After-hours high, 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.
- $12.50 at 6:30 p.m.
- Volume, 4 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- 6.79 million
- Volume after hours, 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.
- 77,426
- Relative volume by 8 p.m.
- 108.6×
- Float
- 5.60 million shares, from filings as of August 7, 2026
- Shares outstanding
- 13.64 million
- From news to the move: the first trade 20% above the previous close came 3 hours 45 minutes after the latest news item before it (Seeking Alpha, 12:14 a.m.).
- Volume, from the one-minute bars: 3.45 million shares before the 9:30 a.m. open (50%), 451,232 in the first 30 minutes (7%), and 2.97 million in the rest of the day to 8 p.m. (43%).
- Float rotation, the volume since 4 a.m. against the float of 5.60 million shares: past it once at 11:17 a.m.
- In our recaps, this is the only day VATE met the small-cap rule.
On the day's lists: the pre-market gappers, gainers, intraday runners. It is here because it met the small-cap rule on the pre-market gappers: price $2 to $20, up 10% or more, relative volume 5× or more, float under 20 million shares, its high reached $1 or more and it started the day at $20 or under (the rule every page uses).
Halts (none)
The exchange's halt feed shows no halts for VATE that day.
Halt bands that day: the LULD plan's Amendment 18 rules (what that means, LULD calculator).
How we read the data, name a day's shape and pick the stocks: methodology.
Trade this day
Replay VATE on August 7, 2026 in Hindsight Markets: the real tape, the order book and the halts, on a clock you control, and see where your orders would have filled.