What happens after a company uplists from OTC to Nasdaq or NYSE American? 174 uplistings, 2021–2026

Moving from OTC quotation to Nasdaq or NYSE American hasn’t, on average, been followed by gains. We tracked 174 companies that made the move between January 2021 and September 2026. Measured from the close of each stock’s first exchange session, the median was down 20.0% after 60 sessions and 49.4% after 250. Fewer than half came with an underwritten offering, but those that did fared worse, and most of the companies raised money again within a year.

Method in brief. We started from every Form 8-A12B, the filing that registers a class of stock on an exchange, filed from January 2021 to October 2026. We kept companies that already filed 10-Ks or 10-Qs and began trading on Nasdaq or NYSE American within two months of the 8-A12B. Each one’s last report or prospectus before listing had to say its stock was quoted on an OTC market (OTCQX, OTCQB, Pink or the old Bulletin Board). Bankruptcy emergences, SPAC deals, exchange transfers and NYSE main-board listings are excluded. The sample excludes Onfolio Holdings (ONFO), which owns Microcap Ledger. Returns use Alpaca SIP daily closes, adjusted for later splits, and are compared with IWM, the Russell 2000 ETF. The CSV lists every event with the filing that shows its OTC quotation.

Of the 262 candidates that met the filing and trading tests, 88 were removed: 67 had no OTC quotation in their filings, 18 were relisting after Chapter 11, two were SPACs and one listed on the NYSE. 151 of the 174 went to Nasdaq and 23 to NYSE American. The median first exchange close was $6.00. The median market value at that close was $87M, and 140 of the 162 we could estimate were under $300M.

Returns here start at the first exchange close, not the last OTC price, so they leave out any move on day one. That matters for a few cases: Addentax priced its IPO at $5.00 and closed its first Nasdaq session at $656.54.

The slide is gradual

Median return after the first exchange close

Chart data

	Median return	Median vs IWM	Events
+5	−3.1%	−3.0%	174
+20	−9.2%	−9.3%	174
+60	−20.0%	−18.7%	172
+120	−30.6%	−30.2%	166
+250	−49.4%	−40.4%	159

The median stock was down 3.1% after five sessions and 9.2% after 20. Losses grew with time: -20.0% at +60, -30.6% at +120 and -49.4% at +250. Against IWM, the median trailed by 40.4 percentage points after 250 sessions. 82.4% were lower than their first exchange close after a year, and 33 of 159 (20.8%) beat IWM.

The spread is wide. At +250 the 10th percentile was -89.7% and the 90th was +40.8%. A few big winners pull the mean (-29.3%) well above the median.

Returns 250 sessions after the first exchange close

Chart data

	Uplistings
Down 75% or more	44
Down 50–75%	33
Down 25–50%	36
Down 0–25%	18
Up 0–50%	14
Up 50–100%	6
Up 100% or more	8

Offerings at the listing

82 of the 174 uplistings (47.1%) had a 424B4 or 424B1 prospectus filed within days of the first session: a firm-commitment offering priced as the stock moved to the exchange. Nasdaq’s Capital Market standards include a minimum bid price and a minimum value of publicly held shares, and an offering is a common way to meet them. The details are in our uplisting explainer and Nasdaq listing requirements.

Listings with an offering did better in the first week (-1.7% median against -5.3%) and worse after that. After 60 sessions the medians were -24.4% with an offering and -13.4% without. After 250 they were -55.8% and -42.0%.

Median return, with and without an offering at listing

Chart data

	With an offering	No offering
+5	−1.7%	−5.3%
+20	−10.3%	−8.2%
+60	−24.4%	−13.4%
+120	−35.3%	−28.4%
+250	−55.8%	−42.0%

The share count shows the dilution. Comparing the last cover-page count before listing with the first one after, adjusted for reverse splits, the median rose 37.0% across listings with an offering (76 with usable counts) and 0.9% across those without (82). 39.2% of all listings with usable counts rose more than 25%. Four listings where the count fell sharply with no stated split ratio are left out.

It continued after listing. In the first year, 72.3% made a financing filing: a 424B1, 424B4 or 424B5 prospectus, or an 8-K reporting unregistered equity sales. The median split-adjusted share count rose another 7.0%, and 8.5% of companies doubled theirs. The mechanics are covered in stock dilution.

Listed, then what

What followed the uplisting

Chart data

	Share of uplistings	Events
Financing filing within 1 year	72.3%	159
Reverse split within 1 year	4.4%	159
Reverse split by 12 Oct 2026	39.7%	174
Delisted by 12 Oct 2026	16.1%	174
Acquired by 12 Oct 2026	2.9%	174

None of the 159 uplistings with a full year of data had left its exchange within 250 sessions, and only seven (4.4%) did a reverse split in that first year. Trouble showed up later. By 12 October 2026:

• 69 of 174 (39.7%) had done at least one reverse split after listing;
• 28 (16.1%) had been delisted, a median of 3.0 years after listing, and 18 of those had reverse-split first;
• 5 (2.9%) had been acquired.

Each delisting was preceded by at least one 8-K reporting an Item 3.01 listing notice. The steps from notice to removal are in the Nasdaq delisting process.

By year and exchange

Uplistings in the sample, by year

Chart data

	Uplistings
2021	71
2022	41
2023	14
2024	14
2025	21
2026	13

2021 had 71 uplistings, more than the next two years combined. Its median 250-session return was -53.6%, and 2022’s was -57.9%. Later cohorts were smaller and fell less: -20.7% for 2023, -33.9% for 2024 and -20.1% for 2025. NYSE American listings had a median 250-session return of -36.9% (18), against -53.6% for Nasdaq (141). How the two venues differ is in NYSE American vs Nasdaq.

The biggest moves

Returns are measured over 250 sessions from the first exchange close. Each company is listed once.

Company	First exchange session	250-session return	What the filings show
Sezzle (SEZL)	14 Sep 2023, Nasdaq	+844%	Net income of $7.1M for 2023 after a $38.1M loss in 2022 (10-K, 29 Feb 2024). Authorized $5M of buybacks (8-K, 22 Dec 2023).
Velo3D (VELO)	19 Aug 2025, Nasdaq	+335%	Listed with an offering at $3.00 (424B4). Reported a Defense Innovation Unit contract (8-K, 22 Dec 2025), then raised about $50M at $14.00 in April 2026.
Atlas Lithium (ATLX)	10 Jan 2023, Nasdaq	+335%	Listed with a $4.05M offering at $6.00 (424B4). Sold shares at $19.00 in July 2023 and $20M of convertible notes in November (8-K, 8 Nov 2023).
BitMine Immersion (BMNR)	5 Jun 2025, NYSE American	+131%	Listed with an offering at $8.00 (424B4). Signed private placements at $4.50 for an ether treasury strategy (8-K, 3 Jul 2025) and a $2B ATM program (8-K, 9 Jul 2025).
Focus Universal (FCUV)	31 Aug 2021, Nasdaq	+124%	Sold 2.3M shares at $5.00 for about $11.5M (8-K, 2 Sep 2021). No follow-on offering filed in the next year.
Addentax (ATXG)	31 Aug 2022, Nasdaq	-99.97%	IPO of 5M shares at $5.00 (424B4); first close $656.54. Issued $16.7M of secured convertible notes (8-K, 4 Jan 2023), then a 1-for-10 reverse split.
Next Technology, formerly WeTrade (NXTT)	19 Jul 2022, Nasdaq	-99.7%	Offering at $4.00 (424B4). Received a bid-price notice and filed its 10-K late, then dismissed its auditor (8-K, 15 May 2023).
Ascent Solar (ASTI)	24 Aug 2022, Nasdaq	-99.3%	Agreed to issue $12.5M of convertible notes (8-K, 20 Dec 2022). 1-for-200 reverse split in September 2023 (8-K, 15 Sep 2023).
Propanc Biopharma (PPCB)	15 Aug 2025, Nasdaq	-98.3%	Offering of 1M shares at $4.00 (424B4). Sold Series C preferred convertible at 85% of the lowest trading price (8-K, 10 Nov 2025).
Nutex Health (NUTX)	4 Apr 2022, Nasdaq	-97.5%	Listed on completing its merger with OTC-quoted Clinigence; former Nutex holders received about 593M shares, 92% of the total (8-K, 4 Apr 2022).

Caveats

The sample depends on the 8-A12B and on the company’s own filings saying it was OTC-quoted, so companies that never stated it are missed. Returns start at the first exchange close and leave out the move from the last OTC trade. A stock that leaves its exchange stops producing prices; none did within the first 250 sessions, so the one-year figures aren’t affected. Uplistings after 9 October 2025 haven’t yet reached 250 sessions. Share-count changes rely on cover-page counts and stated split ratios, and the financing measure counts filings, not completed raises. Prices are Alpaca SIP closes through the 12 October 2026 session. This is a record of past uplistings, not a prediction for any company.