when a company is delisted it could be good news or bad news for investors 
a company can be delisted because it no longer meets the standards of the stock exchange that lists it that usually means that the company is failing and its stock has dropped below 1 or so a share these companies often are headed for bankruptcy their outstanding issues may trade as penny stocks in the over the counter market but more often are worthless a notorious current example is sears holding corporation owner of the moribund sears and kmart department store chains delisted from the nasdaq in 2018 it is now sold over the counter under the symbol shldq as of march 11 2022 its share price was 0 0190 and it had a market capitalization of 3 07 million 5a company also can be delisted when a private equity firm or other buyer buys up its shares for a merger a takeover or a private equity buyout in some cases the goal may be to revamp the company and then go public again for example dell computers went public in 1988 and then delisted in 2013 when its founder michael dell and his partners acquired a controlling interest and paid off its remaining shareholders dell dell returned to public trading in august 2016 67