Delisting Rules: Nasdaq and NYSE Continued Listing Standards
U.S. exchanges set minimum standards that listed companies must keep meeting, from share price to equity and timely filing. A company that falls short receives a deficiency notice, gets a limited time to fix it, and can be delisted if it does not.
How to calculate it
Nasdaq minimum bid price: closing bid below $1.00 for 30 consecutive business days triggers a deficiency notice and a 180-day compliance period; regaining compliance requires a close of $1.00 or more for at least 10 consecutive business daysNasdaq equity: Capital Market companies need stockholders' equity of at least $2.5 million, or market value of listed securities of $35 million, or net income of $500,000 from continuing operations; Global Market companies using the equity standard need $10 millionNYSE price: average closing price below $1.00 over 30 consecutive trading days gives six months to cure; market capitalization below $50 million (30-trading-day average) together with stockholders' equity below $50 million triggers a review and a plan of up to 18 monthsLate filing: missing a 10-K or 10-Q deadline is itself a listing deficiency, signaled first by a Form NT 10-K or NT 10-QHow to read it
- Companies must disclose a deficiency notice on Form 8-K (Item 3.01) within four business days, so these notices are public and easy to track.
- Nasdaq tightened its rules in 2025: a company can no longer stay below $1.00 for more than 360 days in total, a company that did a reverse split within the prior year gets no compliance period if it falls below $1.00 again, and a stock closing at $0.10 or less for 10 consecutive business days faces immediate delisting.
- A reverse stock split is the usual fix for the price test, but repeated reverse splits are a strong warning sign about the business itself.
Common pitfalls
- Receiving a deficiency notice is not the same as being delisted. Many companies regain compliance, often through a reverse split.
- Delisting from an exchange does not make shares disappear. They usually move to over-the-counter trading, but liquidity drops and many funds must sell.
- These rules change often. Check the exchange rulebooks and the company's 8-K for the exact deadlines that apply.
Where to find it in a 10-K
Form 8-K Item 3.01 (notice of delisting or failure to satisfy a continued listing rule), Form NT 10-K and NT 10-Q (late filing), and risk factors in the 10-K. Nasdaq also publishes a list of non-compliant companies.
U.S. vs. China reporting
China's financial delisting test is mechanical: a loss combined with revenue below a fixed threshold (such as RMB 300 million on the main boards), negative net assets, or a disclaimer or adverse audit opinion puts the stock under *ST risk warning, and failing again the next year leads to delisting. U.S. exchanges have no revenue-and-profit test; they focus on share price, market value, equity and timely filing, and give companies a cure period instead.