NEW YORK, January 2, 2026, 04:30 ET — Premarket
- DVLT rose about 23% in premarket trading, extending a volatile week for the microcap.
- Investors are tracking a Jan. 7 record date tied to a proposed warrant dividend and a separate token distribution.
- A new filing showed top holder Scilex still owns 42.6% after reporting recent share sales.
Datavault AI Inc shares jumped 22.7% to $0.80 in premarket trading on Friday, after closing at $0.6521 on Dec. 31. The stock traded between $0.78 and $0.81 in early action, with about 274,000 shares reported in premarket volume. 1
The move matters now because the Nasdaq-listed company is heading into a Jan. 7 record date tied to two shareholder distributions it announced earlier this week — one involving warrants and another involving a “Dream Bowl Meme Coin II” digital collectible. Record date is the cutoff used to determine which shareholders are eligible for a dividend. 2
A warrant is a security that gives the holder the right to buy shares later at a fixed price. Datavault has not yet set the distribution date for the warrants, putting the spotlight on what it discloses next as the record date approaches. 2
Datavault said on Dec. 29 it intends to declare a special dividend distribution of warrants to eligible holders, at a ratio of one warrant for every 60 shares owned, rounded up. The company said the warrants are expected to carry a $5 exercise price, be exercisable for cash and expire one year after the distribution date. 2
The proposed structure adds an unusual condition: Datavault said the warrants are expected to be exercisable only by holders who also hold at least one Dream Bowl Meme Coin II token in a Datavault digital wallet, subject to company verification. It said it expects to file a warrant agreement with the SEC on or before the distribution date describing those conditions. 2
In a separate announcement on Dec. 29, Datavault said its board approved a dividend of Dream Bowl Meme Coin II tokens to eligible record equity holders, also using a Jan. 7 record date. The company said the payment date will be set later and must fall within 60 days following the record date, and that recipients will need to open a digital wallet and opt in. 3
Ownership disclosures added another catalyst for traders scanning the tape. In an amended Schedule 13D — a filing used by investors who own more than 5% of a U.S.-listed company — Scilex Holding Company reported on Dec. 31 that it beneficially owned 244.4 million Datavault shares, or 42.6% of the company, based on 573.8 million shares outstanding as of Dec. 30. 4
A related Form 4/A filed the same day showed Scilex sold about 20.7 million shares across three transactions on Dec. 26, Dec. 29 and Dec. 30 at average prices ranging from about $0.54 to $0.75. The filing showed Scilex still held 244.4 million shares after those sales. 5
The Schedule 13D amendment also described a non-recourse loan and share pledge arrangement between Scilex and The St. James Bank & Trust Company Ltd., including an increase in the available principal amount to $100 million and an increase in pledged Datavault shares to 85.8 million. “Non-recourse” means the lender’s claim is generally limited to the pledged collateral if the borrower defaults. 4
The stock has been whipsawed in recent sessions. DVLT closed at $0.6521 on Dec. 31, up sharply on the day, on volume of about 220.8 million shares, Nasdaq data show. 6
Datavault is also approaching CES 2026 in Las Vegas, where it said it will exhibit its WiSA and other data and acoustics technologies from Jan. 6-9. “The quality in engineering and ownership of the crucial IP is how we became a standard in acoustics with WiSA,” CEO Nathaniel Bradley said in the CES announcement. 7