Options The employee options that were set to expire in December have been extended and will now expire 10 days after the company is out of blackout. What will be very interesting to see is if post Earnings on Feb 28th will these exercise, expire, or remain in blackout?
if they are exercised, then we know all the information was put on the table. Considering the low strike price, this is the most likely option.
if they expire, this is worst case scenario as that would sow a complete lack of faith in the company. I would put this as highly unlikely.
Finally, if they remain in blackout and the expiry is extended, what material info isn't being shared? Could it be they need to wait until after the pause? Or could it be there is a deal in the works. Given that the research teams are working through the data and won't be submitting it to the SAC u til late March, I expect that it would be the latter regarding some sort of deal.
Keep an eye out for SEDI filings in the first few weeks of March. They will be telling.