Bluecollar, to add to your list:
Positives to add:
- Provides visibility to institutions and investors who previously couldn't buy
- Can have a beneficial impact on the short interest activity that might have been more detrimental with a higher float.
Negatives:
- Always easier to make gains quicker on a stock that is trading lower. A $50 stock will always look pricier than a $10 stock, then would a $1 stock, even if the market cap is the same (all psychological). Even though the value of what shareholder's own remains the same after consolidation, this tends to become a psychological thing. Thats why, like many of us here, we take chances with penny stocks.
- Reverse splits usually come with much more dilution down the road as the company is perceived to have a low float again (screwing the long term shareholders).
- Reverse splits have a bad reputation and most companies that do them are usually performing badly and this generally signals the company is a bad investment. In this case POET is supposedly doing well, but new investors looking at it without as much background knowledge might be turned off.
I would also like to add that reverse splits really only come with positives for companies that are in a position of strength. We all believe POET is in one, so thats the only thing we can hold onto for now during these turbulent waters that management as kindly bestowed upon us.
