Ticker symbol changed companies' stock performance?

Table of Contents

Company List

The following is a list of companies that are relatively well-known or that I know of that have had their ticker symbol changed, used as examples:

Name	Old Ticker	New Ticker	Date	Reason	Stock perf after change (%)
Meta	FB	META	2022/6/9	Company direction changes	89.5
Block	SQ	XYZ	2025/1/21	Biz scope changes	11.5
Under Armour	UA	UAA	2016/12/7	Simplified identification	21.2
Axon	TASR	AXON	2021/1/26	Biz scope changes	59.3
Globe Life	TMK	GL	2019/8/9	Company name changed	35.4
Macy’s	FD	M	2007/6/1	Enhance company identity	15.1
Gap	GPS	GAP	2024/8/22	Enhance company identity	92.9
Ball	BLL	BALL	2022/5/10	Brand modernization	14.2
ZoomInfo	ZI	GTM	2025/5/13	Corporate rebranding	3.3
Yum! Brands	TRICON	YUM	2002/5/16	Corporate rebranding	1000
Alphabet	GOOG	GOOGL	2014/4/3	Established a holding company	1000
Warner Bros	DISCA	WBD	2022/4/11	Business Combination	-70
Lumen Tech	CTL	LUMN	2020/9/18	CenturyLink changed its name	-50
Paramount	VIAC	PARA	2022/2/16	Viacom changed its name	-60
Kyndryl	IBM	KD	2021/11/4	Spun off from IBM	-50
NCR Voyix	NCR	VYX	2023/10/18	Corporate restructuring	0
WW	WEN	WW	2018/3/22	Company name changed	-10
Booking	PCLN	BKNG	2018/2/15	Priceline was acquired	100
Nextdoor	KIND	NXDR	2021/11/18	SPAC merger	-50

Reasons for Ticker Symbol Changes

As listed in the table in this article, the reasons for ticker symbol changes are generally:

A change in business direction: For example, Facebook’s change to Meta.
A major restructuring of the corporate structure: For example, Google’s change to Alphabet.
A breakup of a large company: For example, the split of the old HP into HP and HPE, and GE’s split into three independent companies. (please see my post of “How did three listed companies make money after GE spinoff? What are the prospects?“)
A merger.
Increasing or enhancing a company’s identity: For example, in the cases of Macy’s and GAP.
Evading legal action: For example, Johnson & Johnson attempted to escape years of litigation and astronomical damages in the talc powder cancer case through a split.
Getting rid of a money-losing business: For example, as listed in the table, IBM spun off its unprofitable Kyndryl.
Other: This is the most common reason, and it’s also the most dangerous.

Stock performance after ticker symbol change

Based on my personal experience tracking public companies, what are the stock returns of companies that have changed their stock symbols? Basically, there are only two options: neither extremely good nor extremely bad; and the bad is more common.

Closing words

My advice: Unless you are very familiar with the company you’re investing in (unfortunately, the answer is mostly no) and understand why it’s changing its stock trading symbol, unless there are legitimate reasons (such as in the cases of Facebook and Google), and if you truly don’t understand (most companies’ excuses are deliberately designed to deceive investors), I sincerely recommend you stay away from companies that change their stock trading symbols.

A great and outstanding company wouldn’t change its name or trading symbol for no reason. Spending time on this won’t affect the company’s competitiveness unless there are shady reasons.

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