Diamond Foods Plunges, Company Delays 10-Q

Following news of questionable payments to

, shares of Diamond Foods

are plunging this morning on heavy volume after the company provided an update on its ongoing Audit Committee investigation into the matter. Questions about Diamond's accounting practices have been part of the reason the company's purchase of the Pringle's potato chip brand from Procter & Gamble

has been delayed. Diamond also said it will delay filing its 10-Q. Those comments were made in a statement issued by the company this morning. “In accordance with standard Nasdaq procedure, Diamond expects to receive a notice of deficiency from the Nasdaq Listing Qualifications Department, indicating that Diamond is not in compliance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5250(c)(1). Diamond intends to submit a plan to regain compliance as quickly as possible. During this process, Diamond's common stock will continue to be listed and traded on The NASDAQ Global Select Market,” Diamond said in the statement. As of this writing, Diamond's volume is more than double the daily average. Last Friday, the shares surged almost 53% after an analyst said the accounting issues may be resolved quickly.