Nasdaq May Drop Pinnacle Micro Stock

IRVINE — Financially troubled Pinnacle Micro is in danger of losing its stock market listing because its share price and net tangible assets fall below Nasdaq’s minimum requirements.

Officials from Pinnacle, a maker of compact disk storage systems, will meet with the National Assn. of Securities Dealers in Washington on Thursday to review the matter, Nasdaq officials said.

The company said this week’s hearing has been scheduled because its most recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission did not meet Nasdaq’s $1 minimum share price nor its standard for net tangible assets.

Pinnacle Micro staff declined to comment further on Tuesday.

A decision on Pinnacle Micro’s standing will be made within two weeks after the hearing, Nasdaq officials said.

Pinnacle Micro’s stock price rose 3 cents Tuesday, closing at 19 cents a share.

In related news, Pinnacle Micro said it believes its moratorium on repaying its trade debt--which it originally won last June--will be extended again. Yet there is no guarantee of another extension, officials said, and the moratorium expired Monday.

Analysts said the company’s current problems date back more than two years, when it moved from the reselling business to manufacturing.

Also on Tuesday, the company announced that its independent public accountants, BDO Seidman LLP, quit because Pinnacle Micro could not pay its outstanding bills. Pinnacle named a local certified public accountant firm--Scott, Bankhead & Co. of Newport Beach--as the replacement.

Officials at BDO Seidman declined to comment. Staff at Scott, Bankhead & Co. could not be reached.