Chesapeake Energy Corp. shares took another dive Tuesday, pushing them well below $1 to hit their lowest price in more than 25 years as the natural-gas producer’s going-concern warning continued to reverberate in the equity markets and beyond.
Chesapeake’s most actively-traded bonds by volume on Tuesday fetched an average of 55.29 cents on the dollar, a record low, according to bond pricing and trading platform MarketAxess. Shares have traded below $5 for almost four years, but having language around the solvency of the company in writing perhaps “was the flashpoint,” said James Mick, a portfolio manager with Tortoise Advisors.
The company has been in bad shape before: In 2016, shortly before the death of co-founder and long-time Chief Executive Aubrey McClendon, it had to reassure investors it was not on the brink of bankruptcy.