Options Trading on Delisted Stocks (2024)

FAQs

What happens if you have options on a stock that gets delisted? ›

When a stock is delisted, options trading on that stock typically ceases. This means that options holders are no longer able to buy or sell their options on the open market. However, they still have the right to exercise their options if they choose to do so.

Though delisting does not affect your ownership, shares may not hold any value post-delisting. Thus, if any of the stocks that you own get delisted, it is better to sell your shares. You can either exit the market or sell it to the company when it announces buyback.

Trading After Delisting

After a stock is delisted, it can trade over-the-counter ("OTC") on one of three different exchanges.

For example, the Nasdaq requires a security's price not to close below $1.00 for 30 consecutive trading days, at which point the exchange initiates the delisting process. 1 Furthermore, the major exchanges also impose requirements related to market capitalization, minimum shareholders' equity, and revenue outputs.

If the security cannot be sold in the market, it may be possible to dispose of the worthless security by gifting it to another person who can be related or unrelated to you. If you gift the worthless security to a family member, you will need to ensure that the person is not your spouse or minor child.

Technically the IRS requires that a stock be totally worthless before you are entitled to a deduction. Some delisted stocks still trade in other markets which means they're not totally worthless as the iRs requires.

The value of shares doesn't automatically rise or fall with a delisting, but when an involuntary listing takes place, it's often a sign that a company is approaching bankruptcy. In this case, there's a chance investors might lose their investment.

If the firm has been delisted for more than a year, the shareholder might approach the company and negotiate a private sale of the shares to the promoters. This will be an off-market transaction, with the price agreed upon by the seller and buyer.

If you own delisted shares, you can still sell them on the Over-the-Counter Bulletin Board (OTCBB) or on the Pink Sheets, which have more relaxed regulations and few listing requirements. OTC trading is volatile, and this level of risk is typically not suitable for beginning investors.

You don't automatically lose money as an investor, but being delisted carries a stigma and is generally a sign that a company is bankrupt, near-bankrupt, or can't meet the exchange's minimum financial requirements for other reasons. Delisting also tends to prompt institutional investors to not continue to invest.

Has a delisted stock ever been relisted? ›

Many companies can and have returned to compliance and relisted on a major exchange like the Nasdaq after delisting. To be relisted, a company has to meet all the same requirements it had to meet to be listed in the first place.

A company's shares listed on Nasdaq are required to maintain a closing bid price of no less than $1.00 per share (Minimum Bid Price Requirement). If the closing bid price of a company's shares are below $1.00 for 30 consecutive trading days, the company is considered to be in violation of Minimum Bid Price Requirement.

What would happen if I bought a put option and the company got delisted before the expiration date? If the company is delisted, you can still exercise your PUT option (and you probably should). So if you own shares, you can still sell the shares at the strike price, even if they are no longer listed.

When a company delists, investors still own their shares. However, they'll no longer be able to sell them on the exchange. Instead, they'll have to do so over the ounter (OTC).

Regardless of the reason, if a stock is halted, the options on the underlying stock will also be halted on the option exchanges on which it trades. The impact of a trading halt is two-fold for any options on a halted underlying stock.

If a stock becomes delisted, the liquidity drops immensely. In fact, they are considered illiquid. In many cases, they are untradeable on most brokerage platforms that don't support OTCBB or Pink Sheets trading.

A stock is delisted when it's been removed from the stock exchange. You can't trade delisted stocks with Robinhood. You can learn more about what to do if you own a delisted stock in Mergers, stock splits, and more. An exchange-traded fund (ETF) is a group of assets pulled together that trades like a normal stock.