How To Avoid Getting Delisted From Nasdaq

When stocks are soaring and initial public offerings (IPOs) are raking in the money, it can seem like a bull market will never end. Nevertheless, market downturns are inevitable and when the fall from grace occurs—as it has many times in the stock market’s history—textbook conditions for delisting can be created.

Here we examine the Nasdaq delisting rules, taking a closer look at how and why delisting occurs on the Nasdaq. We’ll review what this change in status means—for both the company being delisted and the individual investors that hold its stock.

Getting Listed

You can think of major stock exchanges such as the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the Nasdaq as exclusive clubs. To get listed on a major exchange like the Nasdaq, a company must meet the minimum standards required by the exchange. On the Nasdaq Global Market, for example, as of 2022, a company must pay a $25,000 application fee before its stock can even be considered for listing, and it can expect to pay between $150,000 and $295,000 in entry fees if successful.

As for other requirements, companies must meet minimum standards such as minimum stockholders’ equity and a minimum number of shareholders, among many other things. Turning again to the Nasdaq Global Market as an example, a company must have at least 1.1 million public shares outstanding worth a total of at least $8 million and a share price of at least $4 per share before it can be considered for listing on the exchange.

There are numerous other rules that apply, but until a company reaches these minimum thresholds, it has no chance of being listed on the Nasdaq. Similar requirements exist for the NYSE and other reputable exchanges around the world.

Why the Prerequisites?

Stock exchanges have these listing requirements because their reputations rest on the quality of the companies that trade on them. Not surprisingly, the exchanges want only the cream of the crop—in other words, the companies that have solid management and a good track record.

Thus, the minimum standards imposed by major exchanges serve to restrict access to only those companies with a reasonably credible business and stable corporate structure. Any top university or college has strict entrance requirements; top exchanges work the same way.

Staying Listed

However, an exchange’s duty to maintain its credibility isn’t over once a company becomes successfully listed. To stay listed, a company must maintain certain ongoing standards imposed by the exchange. These requirements serve to reassure investors that any company listed is a suitably credible firm, regardless of how much time has passed since the firm’s initial offering.

To fund their ongoing scrutiny, exchanges charge periodic maintenance fees to listed companies. On the Nasdaq Global Market, annual listing fees in 2022 range from approximately $48,000 to $167,000 (higher fees are charged to companies with more shares outstanding).

To extend the university analogy, these ongoing requirements are much like the minimum grade point averages students must maintain once admitted, and the annual listing fees are like paying tuition.

For stock exchanges, the ongoing minimum standards are similar to the initial listing standards, but they’re generally a little less stringent. In the case of the Nasdaq Global Market, one ongoing standard that a listed company must meet is to maintain 1.1 million public shares outstanding worth at least $8 million—anything less could result in a delisting from the Nasdaq.

In other words, if a company messes up, the exchange will kick the company out of its exclusive club. A stock that has experienced a steep price decline and is trading below $1 is very risky because a relatively small price movement could result in a huge percentage swing (just think—with a $1 stock, a difference of $0.10 means a change of 10%).

In low-volume penny stocks, the fraudsters flourish and stocks are much more easily manipulated. Major exchanges don’t want to be associated with this type of behavior, so they delist the companies that are liable to be affected by such manipulation.

How Delisting Works

The criteria for delisting depend on the exchange and which listing requirement needs to be met. For example, on the Nasdaq, the delisting process is set in motion when a company trades for 30 consecutive business days below the minimum closing bid price requirement or less than the required market value.

At this point, Nasdaq’s Listing Qualifications Department will send a deficiency notice to the company, informing it that it has 90 calendar days to get up to standard in the case of the market value listing requirement or 180 calendar days if the issue is regarding the minimum bid price listing requirement.

The minimum bid price maintenance requirement, which is $1, is the most common standard that companies fail to maintain. Exchanges typically provide relatively little leeway with their standards because most healthy, credible public companies should be able to meet such requirements on an ongoing basis.

However, while the rules are generally considered to be written in stone, they can be overlooked for a short period of time if the exchange deems it necessary. For example, on Sept. 27, 2001, Nasdaq announced that it was implementing a three-month moratorium on price and market value listing requirements as a result of the market turbulence created by the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York City.

For many of the stocks trading under $1, the freeze expired on Jan. 2, 2002, and some companies found themselves promptly delisted from the exchange. The same measures were taken in late 2008 in the midst of the global financial crisis, as hundreds of Nasdaq-listed companies plunged below the $1 threshold.

Trading After Delisting

When a stock is officially delisted in the United States, there are two main places it can trade: the over-the-counter bulletin board (OTCBB) and the pink sheets.

Over-the-Counter Bulletin Board (OTCBB)

The over-the-counter bulletin board (OTCBB) is an electronic trading service offered by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). The OTCBB has very little regulation. Companies will trade here if they are current in their financial statements.

Pink Sheets

The pink sheets are considered even riskier than the OTCBB. The pink sheets are a quotation service. They do not require that companies register with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or remain current in their periodic filings. The stocks on the pink sheets are very speculative.

Special Considerations

Delisting doesn’t necessarily mean that a company is going to go bankrupt. Just as there are plenty of private companies that survive without the stock market, it is possible for a company to be delisted and still be profitable.

However, delisting can make it more difficult for a company to raise money, and in this respect, it sometimes is the first step towards bankruptcy. For example, delisting may trigger a company’s creditors to call in loans, or its credit rating might be further downgraded, increasing its interest expenses and potentially even pushing it into the red.

How Does It Affect You?

If a company has been delisted, it is no longer trading on a major exchange, but the stockholders are not stripped of their status as owners. The stock still exists, and they still own the shares; however, delisting often results in a significant or total devaluing of a company’s share value.

Therefore, although a shareholder’s ownership of a company does not decrease after a company is delisted, that ownership may become worth much less, or, in some cases, it may lose its entire value.

As a shareholder, you should seriously revisit your investment decision in a company that has become delisted. In many cases, it may be better to cut your losses. A firm unable to meet the listing requirements of the exchange upon which it is traded is quite obviously not in a great position.

Each case of delisting needs to be looked at on an individual basis; however, being kicked out of an exclusive club such as the NYSE or the Nasdaq is about as disgraceful for a company as it is prestigious for it to be listed in the first place.

Even if a company continues to operate successfully after being delisted, the main problem with getting booted from the exclusive club is the trust factor. People lose their faith in the stock. When a stock trades on the NYSE or Nasdaq, it has an aura of reliability and accuracy in reporting financial statements.

When a company’s stock is demoted to the OTCBB or pink sheets, it loses its reputation. Pink sheet and OTCBB stocks lack the stringent regulatory requirements that investors come to expect from NYSE- and Nasdaq-traded stocks. Investors are willing to pay a premium for shares of trustworthy companies and are (understandably) leery of firms with poor reputations.

Another problem with delisted stocks is that many institutional investors are restricted from researching and buying them. Investors who already own a stock prior to the delisting may be forced by their investment mandates to liquidate their positions, further depressing the company’s share price by increasing the selling supply.

This lack of coverage and buying pressure means the stock has an even steeper climb ahead to make it back onto a major exchange.

The Bottom Line

Some argue that delisting is too harsh because it punishes stocks that could still recover; however, allowing such companies to stay listed would result in the major exchanges simply diluting the caliber of the companies that trade on them and degrading the respectability of the companies that maintain the listing requirements.

Therefore, if a company that you own is delisted, it may not spell inevitable doom, but it certainly tarnishes that company’s reputation and is a sign of diminishing returns down the road.