Vislink Technologies (NASDAQ: VISL), a major satellite communications firm with a track record of defense contracting, increased 11% in pre-market trading today over positive news on some of the company’s technology offerings to NATO government agencies.
A press release this morning shows that this link is signed a Basic Ordering Agreement with the NATO Communications and Information Agency, an arm of NATO that helps to arrange provisions for related agencies and military entities.
According to reports, Vislink MSAT and MANTIS satellite communication services are due to be adopted by agencies of no less than 29 NATO member states.
The Basic Ordering Agreement provides a framework for the deal that helps these agencies to buy directly from Vislink, which claims status as a pre-qualified NATO vendor.
“Ratifying this BOA paves the way for expanded market opportunities for our satcom solutions, as well as simplifying the order process for customers,” said John Payne, President and COO of Vislink in a recent statement. “We look forward to fulfilling additional NATO-led procurements under this contract vehicle, and in leveraging our expertise in providing secure systems built to perform in the most extreme environments and circumstances.”
VISL’s equity spike counteracts a major decline over the past month – where the stock started out the summer around the two-dollar mark, it spiked up to $4.10 Wednesday, July 10 and then dropped directly back down, after which it has recently hit a low of $1.03.
Before the bell, VISL hovers around $1.16, representing an 11% to 12% increase over its prior close.
Analysts cite short interest as a major reason for the prior decline.
“The shorts are climbing into Vislink stock,” wrote Samuel Moore July 18. “The latest set of short interest data was released on 28 June 2019, and the numbers show a rise in short interest in VISL shares. While short interest still represents only 11.39% of VISL’s float, the number of shares shorted have risen by 141042. The number of shares shorted advanced to 194119 shares, up from 53077 shares during the preceding fortnight.”
Keep an eye on this stock throughout the day.
