Biozone Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (OTCBB:BZNE) Rushes Out of Oblivion
On Friday Biozone Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (OTCBB:BZNE) burst center-stage among the most heavily traded OTC stocks, moving a dollar volume of $3.3 million. The sudden surge after months of incomparably lower volumes and many zero-share days is largely attributable to an article that hit the web on Thursday.
The article, published on a certain popular blog dealing with stocks, touted the connection of the company with Dr. Phillip Frost, CEO of Opko Health, Inc. – a NYSE-traded company, who made a name for himself as a shrewd investor and is also now a large beneficial shareholder in BZNE.
This news, coupled with the company’s perceived undervaluation, at least according to the article’s author, helped raise some ruckus and send the ticker into heavy volume trading. BZNE is a company known chiefly for their QuSomes patented technology for drug delivery through ‘quick liposomes’. While BZNE is an operational entity that generates seven-digit quarterly revenues, those revenues are currently taking a significant plunge.
The latest 10-Q from BZNE shows a 52% decrease in their revenues for the first two quarters, on a year-over-year basis, due to the fact that in 2013 the company lost its biggest customer following a voluntary recall of products shipped in December last year. This financial blow is furthered by reports for lower orders from smaller customers due to reduced orders and shrinking end-user demand.
The company has been very quiet on the press release front, with no new PR announcements coming out for months on end. The historically low volumes and general lack of serious trader interest in the ticker prior to the article in question, together with the current customer difficulties BZNE is experiencing, make it a risky investment and traders should weigh their options carefully before riding a hype spike.
Other tickers that moved significant volume on Friday include Pacific Clean Water Technologies, Inc., f/k/a Unseen Solar, Inc. (OTCMKTS:PCWT) who finally got moving, prodded along by the two biggest stock pumper outfits – Awesome Penny Stocks and Victory Mark. The ticker closed 13% up at $0.25 per share. Alkaline Water Company, Inc. (OTCBB:WTER) were less fortunate and dropped 21% to a close of $0.67.
