Market Wrap Up – November and December 2024

As promised, I am going to provide regular market wrap-ups for the IPO market as we move forward with the next administration and chapter for our U.S. capital markets.  This edition covers November and December 2024.  For a review of the Market Wrap-Up for October 2024 see HERE.

Nine small cap ($30,000,000 and under) IPOs priced in November 2024 and 12 in December 2024 (compared to 19 in October; 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 November and December IPOs. In October I only included deals up to $25,000,000 but raised the cap to $30,000,000.  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 continue to

Nasdaq Listing Deficiencies And Delisting – Part 1

As 2022 and 2023 have continued to be extremely tough years for the capital markets, many small-cap companies find themselves failing to maintain the minimum continued listing requirements.  I’ve recently written about those continued listing requirements – see HERE – and Nasdaq’s proposed rule changes for reverse split notifications as companies struggle to maintain the $1.00 minimum bid price requirement – see HERE.

These blogs provide a perfect segue for a deep dive into the Nasdaq deficiency notice and delisting process.  In this first blog in the series, I provide an overview of deficiencies, deficiency notices, cure periods and compliance plans.  In the Part 2, I will review the hearing panel process followed by appeals and ultimately delisting.

Overview – Deficiency Notices

When the Nasdaq Listing Qualifications Department determines that a company does not meet a listing standard, it will immediately notify the company of the deficiency.  The notification will come in letter format, literally within a day

NASDAQ Continued Listing Requirements

Although I often write about initial listing standards, I realized that I have not yet blogged about the reduced ongoing listing standards for national exchanges.  In this blog, I will cover the continued listing requirements for Nasdaq listed companies and in next week’s blog I will cover the NYSE/NYSE MKT. For a review of initial listing requirements for the Nasdaq Capital Markets and NYSE MKT see HERE.

Nasdaq Capital Markets

To continue listing on Nasdaq Capital Markets, a company is required to meet certain ongoing quantitative and qualitative requirements.  NASDAQ also requires listed companies to meet stringent corporate governance standards.

In order to continue listing on Nasdaq Capital Markets a company must meet all of the following requirements: (i) at least 2 market makers; (ii) a $1 minimum bid price; (iii) at least 300 unrestricted round lot public shareholders; (iv) at least 500,000 publicly held shares; and (v) a market value of publicly held shares of at least $1