SPYR, Inc. (OTCMKTS:SPYR) Crashes Hard Under Pump Crossfire

After a number of consecutive red days, yesterday’s session turned into an unmitigated disaster for SPYR, Inc. (OTCMKTS:SPYR). The stock took a nose dive immediately after the open, hitting intra-day lows 50% below its previous close. By the end of the session, SPYR managed to patch itself up a little and closed just 19% in the red on a huge share volume increase.

The company, formerly called Eat at Joe’s Ltd. and trading as JOES, is now focusing its efforts on the mobile market. Over the course of just three weeks SPYR‘s Yahoo news feed has been flooded with four separate articles, informing the world of the launch of its first mobile game – the product that should help SPYR join the “mobile games revolution”, as one PR reads.

The game in question looks like it belongs on a feature phone and consists of lining up shots on the screen to hit similarly colored circles through ricochets. Investors should be able to decide for themselves how much potential the game has to become a revenue-generating hit.

SPYR has also been the target of an email pump campaign that started in early April and is still ongoing. The last batch of pumps landed only yesterday. While some promoters are pocketing chump change as little as $2 thousand, Larry Isen’s OTC Journal disclosed receiving $12,500 in cash and 120,000 restricted shares directly by the company to provide ‘long term coverage’. Mr. Isen’s past run-ins with the SEC don’t exactly lend a lot of credibility to any of his following recommendations. SPYR also issued 250,000 restricted shares and paid $5,000 to Stock Market Media Group to use their ‘platform for corporate stories’.

SPYR is a bit of a curious case because even though the company is being actively promoted, it’s in a far better state than most pump candidates. Here is what SPYR last reported in its 10-K for 2014:

• $6.9 million in cash
• $342 thousand in current liabilities
• $1.45 million in annual revenues
• $4.18 million in annual operating loss

Despite the company’s sizable cash position, it loses money from operations and is being promoted through multiple venues, against varying amounts of cash and stock-based compensation. Traders should keep this in mind when doing their own research on the ticker.