MetaOptics jumps as much as 5.5% on proposed Nasdaq listing; stock up almost 300% since IPO

[SINGAPORE] Shares of semiconductor optics company MetaOptics rose as much as 5.5 per cent in early trading after the market opened on Thursday (Nov 27).

The counter was at S$0.77 around 9.07 am, but last eased back to about S$0.75 at the end of morning trading.

The company launched its initial public offering (IPO) at S$0.20 a share and started trading in Singapore in early September; its shares have soared almost 300 per cent since then. Last week, it announced plans for a dual listing on the Nasdaq stock exchange in the US.

In a filing on Nov 17, MetaOptics said the proposed Nasdaq listing will enable it to gain access to a diversified pool of investors and improve the trading liquidity of its securities.

“The board further believes that the proposed Nasdaq listing presents an excellent opportunity to enable the group to build up its metalens design and fabrication capabilities in the US.”

It added that a US listing would bring the group close to its potential key customers, “to support the advancement of next-generation optical technologies across several sectors”.

MetaOptics also announced it established a fully owned US subsidiary in late October, which it said was in a bid to advance next-generation optical technologies, and “strengthen cross-border collaborations” in semiconductor manufacturing, integrated photonics and nanophotonics.

The announcement of a planned Nasdaq listing was before the Singapore Exchange (SGX) announced the SGX-Nasdaq dual listing bridge the same week. Scheduled to go live around mid-2026, the framework enables companies with a market capitalisation of S$2 billion and above to pursue a dual listing on both Nasdaq and SGX through a single set of documents and a simplified review process.

This dual listing bridge is also meant to drive liquidity by enabling continuous trading across time zones. 

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However, investors are somewhat limited by the boundaries of this framework – they will only be able to trade Singapore and US securities – above S$2 billion – that apply to be dual-listed under the framework.