MetaOptics finishes lower after a jump on proposed Nasdaq listing; 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 had eased to about S$0.75 at the end of the morning session. It closed the day at S$0.705, 3.4 per cent down.

The company launched its initial public offering (IPO) at S$0.20 a share and started trading in Singapore in early September; the price has soared almost 300 per cent since then.

Last week, the firm, which says it pioneered glass-based metalens solutions enhanced by artificial intelligence-driven image processing, 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 that it established a fully owned US subsidiary in late October, which it said was to advance next-generation optical technologies and “strengthen cross-border collaborations” in semiconductor manufacturing, integrated photonics and nanophotonics.

At the time, the company’s executive chairman and CEO Mark Thng said setting up the US subsidiary “reflects our dedication to scaling cutting-edge optical technologies for global markets, with the US as a strategic growth base”.

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“Our new advances in co-packaged optics and collaborations with world-class US institutions demonstrate our resolve to innovate and drive value for customers in the semiconductor and photonics markets,” he added.

Market cap below SGX-Nasdaq bridge’s S$2 billion requirement

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.

But the S$2 billion market cap requirement means that MetaOptics is ineligible for a dual listing through the framework. As at Nov 27, its market cap stood at S$172.25 million.

The bridge is also meant to drive liquidity by enabling continuous trading across time zones. 

However, investors are somewhat limited by its boundaries – they will only be able to trade Singapore and US securities that apply to be dual-listed under the framework.