| Item 3.01. | Notice of Delisting or Failure to Satisfy a Continued Listing Rule or Standard; Transfer of Listing |
On September 14, 2023, Forte Biosciences, Inc. (the “Company”) received a written notice (the “Notice”) from the Nasdaq Listing Qualifications staff of The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (“Nasdaq”) indicating that, for the last 30 consecutive business days, the minimum bid price of the Company’s common stock had been below the $1.00 per share minimum requirement for continued listing on the Nasdaq Capital Market under Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(a)(2) (the “Minimum Bid Price Requirement”).
In accordance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5810(c)(3)(A), the Company has been provided an initial period of 180 calendar days, or until March 12, 2024, to regain compliance with the Minimum Bid Price Requirement. The Notice states that the Nasdaq staff will provide written notification that the Company has achieved compliance with Rule 5550(a)(2) if, at any time before March 12, 2024, the closing bid price of the Company’s common stock is $1.00 per share or more for a minimum of ten consecutive business days. The Notice has no immediate effect on the listing or trading of the Company’s common stock.
In the event the Company does not regain compliance with the Minimum Bid Price Requirement by March 12, 2024, the Company may be eligible for additional time to regain compliance. To qualify, the Company will be required to meet the continued listing requirement for market value of publicly held shares and all other initial listing standards for The Nasdaq Capital Market, with the exception of the Minimum Bid Price Requirement, and will need to provide written notice of its intention to cure the deficiency during the second compliance period, by effecting a reverse stock split, if necessary. If the Company meets these requirements, the Company will be granted an additional 180 calendar days to regain compliance. If the Company does not qualify for or fails to regain compliance during the second compliance period, then the Nasdaq staff will provide written notification to the Company that its common stock will be subject to delisting. The Company would then be entitled to appeal that determination to a Nasdaq hearings panel.
The Company intends to actively monitor the closing bid price of its common stock and consider its available options to regain compliance with the Minimum Bid Price Requirement. There can be no assurance that the Company will regain compliance with the Minimum Bid Price Requirement during the 180-day compliance period ending March 12, 2024, secure an extension of the compliance period beyond March 12, 2024 or maintain compliance with any other Nasdaq listing requirements.
Forward-Looking Statements
This Current Report on Form 8-K contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include all statements that are not purely historical regarding the Company’s or its management’s intentions, beliefs, expectations and strategies for the future, including statements regarding the Company’s ability to regain compliance with the Minimum Bid Price Requirement, the Company’s intentions to actively monitor the closing bid price of its common stock, and the Company’s plans to consider implementing available options to regain compliance with the Minimum Bid Price Requirement. All forward-looking statements included in this Current Report on Form 8-K are made as of the date of this report, based on information currently available to the Company, deal with future events, are subject to various risks and uncertainties, including the risk that the Company may not meet the Minimum Bid Price Requirement by March 12, 2024 or, in the future, the risk that the Company may not otherwise meet the requirements for continued listing under the Nasdaq Listing Rules, the risk that Nasdaq may not grant the Company relief from delisting if necessary, and the risk that the Company may not ultimately meet applicable Nasdaq requirements if any such relief is necessary, among other risks and uncertainties, and actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in those forward-looking statements.
