STR to be delisted from NY Stock Exchange

HBJ File Photo STR CEO and President Robert Yorgensen has maintained his position on the company's board of directors since Chinese firm Zhenfa took over.

Write a Comment

Enfield solar parts maker STR Holdings on Tuesday was notified it will be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange, as the price of its stock was too low.

NYSE required that the solar company maintain an average global market capitalization of at least $15 million over a 30 trading-day period. NYSE told STR on Tuesday it plans to apply to the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission to delist the stock.

The stock was trading at 78 cents per share on Tuesday afternoon. At its peak in November 2010, the company’s stock was trading at $77.19 per share.

Starting Wednesday, the company expects to start trading on the OTC Pink Marketplace under the symbol STRI.

The delisting of the STR stock signified the large fall for the company since 2011 when the company was honored by the Connecticut Tech Council as one of the fastest growing companies in the state. At the time, it was the leading product for encapsulating solar cells to protect them from damage.

Nine-figure annual revenues started dropping in 2012 when the global solar market began to flood with a large number of solar panels, dropping the price worldwide and slowing STR’s sales. The company then lost its top customer – California-based First Solar – in 2013, forcing the company to lay off the majority of its Connecticut workforce, cease construction on a planned East Windsor manufacturing facility, and idle its own Chinese production facility.

As sales continued to dwindle, STR executives considered liquidation before selling a majority stake to China-based firm Zhenfa Energy Group for $22 million. STR has since used that partnership to make inroads into the Chinese solar market.

STR trims 3Q loss