Calypte Biomed Off 21%; CEO Cites Profit-Taking
+++++++++
Calypte Biomed Down -2: Volume Is 2.7M Shares
Tuesday, August 29, 2000 03:43 PM
of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Calypte Biomedical Corp. (CALY, news, msgs) gave back part of its remarkable run-up of last week, although a company representative said there wasn't any recent news.
Shares of the Almeda, Calif., biomedical company were off 20% on heavy volume recently, after sliding 9% Monday.
The recent declines followed a tripling in price Friday on news that its HIV-1 test was approved for distribution in China.
"If I were to guess, I think it's stabilizing," Chief Executive Nancy Katz said Tuesday. Katz cited profit-taking for recent declines.
Calypte, which had traded as high as $4.44 in after-hours trading Friday, slipped recently to $3.13 a share, off 84 cents or more than 21% on Nasdaq volume of 2.7 million shares. Average daily volume is 623,473 shares.
The issue hit a 52-week high in March of $7.25 a share.
At least one analyst who didn't want to be named on Friday questioned whether market demand in China justified investor enthusiasm for Calypte.
But the company has maintained that the product will thrive because of its low cost and the fact that no special training is required to administer the test. |
