Shares in Taiwanese smartphone firm HTC were halted earlier in the wake of speculation that it may get taken over by Google's giant parent Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL).
Google's first own-brand smartphone called the Pixel, launched earlier this year, is manufactured at HTC’s factories.
The Taiwan Stock Exchange said in a statement earlier: “TWSE announced trading in the shares of HTC Corporation and the securities underlying the company will be halted starting from 21 September 2017 pending the release of material information.
"The company will apply for resumption of trading after the release of material information.”
HTC has been dogged by falling smartphone sales in recent years as has struggled to compete with the likes of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Samsung.
Some commentators have suggested Alphabet may want to turn HTC into an in-house manufacturer for Google-branded products, and drop the HTC brand entirely.
Alphabet shares added 1.37% today in New York to stand at US$949.88.