Hindsight Markets Recaps Small-cap stocks on August 18, 2026
SXTC, August 18: a run to $6.38
SXTC opened up 28%, ran to $5.55, then gave back some of the run by the close.
What happened
Before the open
We found no news or filing before the move. Before the bell it reached $6.38, on 5.2M shares.
The open
It opened up 28%, at $4.79. It ran to $5.55 by 10:54 a.m.
The close
It closed at $5.21, 18% under its high.
What to take from it: The high came early. Most of the run was gone by the close, so the move was in the morning, not the hold.
The details
How it traded, step by step
Gap, run, gave some back. It gapped up 27.7% to $4.79 at the open, ran from the open to the high of $5.55 in 84 minutes, then gave back 45% of that move by 4:00 p.m., trading at $5.21, still above the open.
| Time (ET) | What happened |
|---|---|
| 5:54 a.m. | First trade 20% above the previous close of $3.75 |
| 6:08 a.m. | Volume since 4:00 a.m. passes the whole float, 533,976 shares |
| 8:32 a.m. | Pre-market high, $6.38 |
| 8:32 a.m. | High of the day to the close, $6.38 |
| 9:30 a.m. | The open: $4.79, up 27.7% from the previous close |
| 3:59 p.m. | Last trade before the 4:00 p.m. close, $5.21, 18.3% 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
- $3.75
- Open, 9:30 a.m.
- $4.79
- Gap at the open
- +27.7%
- Pre-market high
- $6.38 at 8:32 a.m.
- High, 4 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- $6.38 at 8:32 a.m.
- Low, 4 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- $3.90
- Close, 4 p.m.
- $5.21
- Change at 4 p.m.
- +38.9%
- After-hours high, 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.
- $5.70 at 5:24 p.m.
- Volume, 4 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- 6.88 million
- Volume after hours, 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.
- 172,138
- Relative volume by 8 p.m.
- 6.7×
- Float
- 533,976 shares, from filings as of August 18, 2026
- Shares outstanding
- 533,976
- Volume, from the one-minute bars: 5.17 million shares before the 9:30 a.m. open (73%), 272,666 in the first 30 minutes (4%), and 1.61 million in the rest of the day to 8 p.m. (23%).
- Float rotation, the volume since 4 a.m. against the float of 533,976 shares: past it once at 6:08 a.m., twice at 6:14 a.m., three times at 6:41 a.m.
- Other days SXTC met the small-cap rule in our recaps: 5, the latest on October 7, 2026.
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 SXTC 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 SXTC on August 18, 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.