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Small-Cap IPOs

NASDAQ Proposes A Hard $5 Million Market Value Floor For Continued Listing

On January 13, 2026, Nasdaq filed a proposed rule change with the SEC that would impose a new continued listing requirement requiring all Nasdaq Global Market and Nasdaq Capital Market companies to maintain a minimum Market Value of Listed Securities of at least $5 million.

This proposal is part of a steady and deliberate shift Nasdaq has been making over the past several years to tighten its oversight of smaller public companies and to more quickly remove from the market issuers that, in Nasdaq’s view, no longer meet baseline viability.

Other recent Nasdaq initiatives include: (i) an amendment to grant Nasdaq discretionary authority to deny listings based on activity by outside third parties associated with a company including advisors (see HERE); (ii) amendments to increase minimum listing standards for China based companies (see HERE) ; (iii)  amendments to accelerate the suspension and delisting of a company that falls below any of the numeric listing requirements, including the bid

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February 10, 2026

市場総括：2025年第4四半期

今回の市場要約は、2025年第4四半期をカバーしています。2024年11月と12月のレビューについては、 を参照してください。2024年10月については、 を参照してください。2025年第1四半期については、 を参照してください。2025年第2四半期については、 を参照してください。 2025年第3四半期については  をご覧ください。

2025年第3四半期に価格決定された小型株（調達額3,000万ドル以下）のIPOは23件（10月14件、11月4件、12月5件）となり、2025年第2四半期に価格決定された40件から大幅に減少しました。一方、ダイレクト・リスティングは明確な増加傾向を示しており、2025年第3四半期には6社が取引を開始しました。以下は、第3四半期のIPOに関する主要な取引情報をまとめたチャートです。

取引所 募集金額 国内／外国発行体 主幹事証券会社
ナスダック・キャピタル市場 500万ドル 外国 US Tiger Securities, Inc.
ナスダック・キャピタル市場 500万ドル 外国 Cathay Securities, Inc.
ナスダック・グローバル市場 2,000万ドル＋16ドル 外国 Joseph Stone Capital, LLC
ナスダック・キャピタル市場 1,000万ドル 外国 Cathay Securities, Inc.
ナスダック・キャピタル市場 500万ドル 外国 Kingswood Capital Partners, LLC
ナスダック・キャピタル市場 848万ドル 外国 Bancroft Capital, LLC
NYSEアメリカン市場 1,020万ドル 外国 Revere Securities
ナスダック・キャピタル市場 500万ドル 外国 Craft Capital Management, LLC and Revere Securities
ナスダック・キャピタル市場 560万ドル 外国 Craft Capital Management, LLC and Revere Securities
ナスダック・キャピタル市場 600万ドル 外国 AC Sunshine Securities, LLC and Univest Securities
ナスダック・グローバル市場 3,000万ドル 外国 D. Boral Capital
ナスダック・キャピタル市場 640万ドル 外国 Cathay Securities
ナスダック・キャピタル市場 700万ドル 外国 D. Boral Capital and Revere Securities
ナスダック・キャピタル市場 950万ドル 外国 D. Boral Capital
ナスダック・キャピタル市場 1,500万3,000ドル 国内 Craig-Hallum Capital Group, LLC
NYSEアメリカン市場 1,440万360ドル 外国 Network1 Financial Securities, Inc.
ナスダック・キャピタル市場 400万ドル 国内 D. Boral Capital
NYSEアメリカン市場 1,500万ドル 国内 ThinkEquity
ナスダック・キャピタル市場 1,995万5,000ドル 国内 Northland Capital Markets and Craig-Hallum Capital Group, LLC
NYSEアメリカン市場 1,000万ドル 外国 ThinkEquity
NYSEアメリカン市場 1,000万ドル 外国
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February 3, 2026

Market Wrap-Up – Fourth Quarter 2025

This edition of my market recap covers the fourth quarter of 2025.  For a review of November and December 2024 see HERE; for October 2024 see HERE; for Q1 2025 see HERE; Q2 2025 see HERE; and for Q3 2025 see HERE.

Twenty-Three small cap ($30,000,000 and under) IPOs priced in the third quarter of 2025 (14 in October, 4 in November and 5 in December) – an significant downtick from the 40 deals that priced in Q3 2025.  On the other hand, direct listings are definitely seeing an uptick with 6 commencing trading in Q3 2025.  Below is a chart of relevant deal information for the third quarter IPOs.

Exchange Offer Amount Domestic/Foreign Issuer Banker(s)
Nasdaq Capital $5,000,000 Foreign US Tiger Securities, Inc.
Nasdaq Capital $5,000,000 Foreign Cathay Securities, Inc.
Nasdaq Global $20,000,016 Foreign Joseph Stone Capital, LLC
Nasdaq Capital $10,000,000 Foreign Cathay Securities, Inc.
Nasdaq Capital $5,000,000 Foreign Kingswood Capital Partners, LLC
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February 3, 2026

Rule 144 – A Deep Dive – Part 1

It has been ten years since I summarized Rule 144 (see HERE), and at that time it was a very high level overview, not a deep dive into the numerous intricacies of the rules application.  Rule 144 is likely the most oft used rule by founders, private investors, early investors, affiliates and insiders, and merger/reverse merger participants, and as such deserves some focus.

I will start this blog series with a high-level overview of Rule 144 and then unpack the numerous individual requirements in the following editions.

Rule 144 – Basic Overview

As I repeat again and again, every offer or sale of securities must either be registered or have an available exemption from registration.  Rule 144 promulgated under the Securities Act of 1933 (“Securities Act”) sets forth certain requirements for the use of Section 4(a)(1) for the sale of restricted or control securities by an existing shareholder.  Control securities are those securities held by an affiliate of

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August 12, 2025

Market Wrap-Up – First Quarter 2025

This edition of my market recap covers the first quarter of 2025.  For a review of November and December 2024 see HERE and for October 2024 see HERE.

Forty-two small cap ($30,000,000 and under) IPOs priced in the first quarter of 2025 (13 in January, 15 in February and 14 in March) – a large uptick from 2024.  Below is a chart of relevant deal information for the first quarter IPOs.

Exchange Offer Amount Domestic/Foreign Issuer Banker(s)
Nasdaq Capital $8,000,000 Foreign AC Sunshine Securities, LLC
Nasdaq Capital $6,000,000 Foreign Kingswood Capital Partners, LLC
Nasdaq Capital $5,000,000 Foreign Craft Capital Management, LLC and Boustead Securities, LLC
Nasdaq Capital $7,000,000 Foreign Benjamin Securities, Inc. and Prime Number Capital, LLC
Nasdaq Capital $8,400,000 Foreign R.F. Lafferty & Co., Inc.
Nasdaq Capital $5,614,740 Foreign Bancroft Capital, LLC and Eddid Securities USA
Nasdaq Capital $7,000,000 Foreign Benjamin Securities, Inc. and Prime Number Capital, LLC
NYSE MKT $10,000,000 Domestic Alliance Global Partners
Nasdaq Capital
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April 22, 2025

Market Wrap-Up

For the first time since December 2022, the markets are seeing an uptick in completed small cap initial public offerings (IPOs).  My clients are always asking me about the deals that are getting done, which prompted this blog, the first in what will be regular periodic market roundups.

Nineteen small cap (under $25,000,000) IPOs priced in October compared to 12 in September; 8 in August; 8 in July; 3 in June; 5 in May; 12 in April; 6 in March; 6 in February; and 8 in January.  Below is a chart of relevant deal information for the 19 October IPOs.    Normally, I would include all deals under $50,000,000 in this category, but the deal sizes remain very low.  As deal sizes return to pre 2022 normal levels, I will adjust by market recaps upward accordingly.

Exchange Offer Amount Domestic/Foreign Issuer Banker(s)
Nasdaq Capital $4,199,995 Foreign Aegis Capital Corp.
Nasdaq Capital $5,200,000 Foreign The Benchmark Company
Nasdaq Capital $7,000,000
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November 12, 2024

Terminating Reporting Obligations In An Abandoned IPO

It has been a tough few years for small cap (and all) initial public offerings (IPOs). Although I have been seeing a small up-tick in priced deals recently, we are not yet near the highs of 2020 – 2022. Among the various challenges facing IPO issuers, lengthy Nasdaq/NYSE review periods and trouble building out sufficient allocations have been especially difficult resulting in a lengthier IPO process than expected.
An increased IPO timeline adds significant expense to the process. A registration statement cannot go effective with stale financial statement. Financial statements for domestic issuers go stale every 135 days requiring either a new quarterly review or annual audit and an amended registration statement. Likewise, financial statements for foreign private issuers (FPIs) go stale every nine months. When an issuer is nearing the end date for financial statements, and it appears that a closing of an IPO may be imminent, they sometimes choose to go effective and rely on Rule 430A.

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September 17, 2024

Commissioner Uyeda’s Statement On Dealer Litigation

On August 19, 2024, SEC Commissioner Mark T. Uyeda published a statement regarding one of the numerous defendants in SEC initiated enforcement proceedings claiming unlicensed dealer activity.  The statement resonates with the sentiments of most of my colleagues, peers and clients.

Background

In November 2017 the SEC shocked the industry when it filed an action against Microcap Equity Group, LLC and its principal alleging that its investing activity required licensing as a dealer under Section 15(a) of the Exchange Act.  Since that time, the SEC has filed numerous additional cases with the sole allegation being that the investor acted as an unregistered dealer.  In each case, the investor entity purchased convertible promissory notes from micro-cap OTC Markets issuers (or other existing note holders), which, after the applicable Rule 144 holding period, were converted into shares of common stock and sold on the open market.  As the securities were generally low priced, the conversions resulted in large quantities of additional

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August 27, 2024

SEC Adopts Final Rules On SPACS, Shell Companies And The Use Of Projections – Part 1

On January 24, 2024, the SEC adopted final rules enhancing disclosure obligations for SPAC IPOs and subsequent de-SPAC business combination transactions.  The rules are designed to more closely align the required disclosures and legal liabilities that may be incurred in de-SPAC transactions with those in traditional IPOs.  The new rules spread beyond SPACs to shell companies and blank check companies in general.

The SEC is specifically requiring enhanced disclosures with respect to compensation paid to sponsors, conflicts of interest, dilution, and the determination, if any, of the board of directors (or similar governing body) of a SPAC regarding whether a de-SPAC transaction is advisable and in the best interests of the SPAC and its shareholders.  The SEC has also adopted rules that deem any business combination transaction involving a reporting shell company, including a SPAC, to involve a sale of securities to the reporting shell company’s shareholders, and has amended several financial statement requirements applicable to transactions involving

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February 27, 2024

Small-Cap IPO Volatility – The China Connection

Less than two months after the PCAOB and the China Securities Regulatory Commission and Ministry of Finance signed a Statement of Protocol reaching a tentative deal to allow the PCAOB to fully inspect and investigate registered public accounting firms headquartered in mainland China and Hong Kong, Nasdaq effectively halted all small-cap IPOs with a China connection.  This time, the issue is not audit-related.

During the week of September 19, one of our clients had a deal ready to be priced and begin trading on Nasdaq.  We had thought we cleared all comments when a call came from our Nasdaq reviewer – all small-cap IPOs were being temporarily halted while the Exchange investigated recent volatility.  The same day, an article came out on Bloomberg reporting on 2200% price swings (up and then steeply back down) on recent IPOs involving companies with ties to China – a repeat of similar volatility in the late ’80’s and early ’90’s despite three decades of

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December 6, 2022

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