The 41-50c range was actually established back in March 2023 and...

The 41-50c range was actually established back in March 2023 and the share price does not look to have been manipulated into and held in that range. It stayed in the range for more than nine months. Back then Mr Market appeared to have a more optimistic opinion of STX's mid term prospects and was looking ahead, as [unmanipulated] markets usually do.
Immediately before the simultaneous entry and release of the SE3 & 2 results there was an unexplained downtrend established, pushing the price down 10% or so over a couple of weeks. This could not have been related to the results, too early in the drilling for anyone to have known the outcome. Draw your own conclusion.