J: What This Nasdaq Designation Means

What Is J?

The designation “J” on Nasdaq-listed stocks means they have voting rights. The designation is the fifth letter following a dot after a stock’s four-letter ticker symbol.

The letter is a temporary suffix that is removed once the shareholder vote is finished. Different letter suffixes attached to tickers on Nasdaq-listed stocks represent various share classes, corporate actions, or specific types of securities.

Understanding J

Securities that trade on stock exchanges are represented by a series of characters, usually a set of letters. This is called the ticker symbol. It allows individuals and companies to execute trades for these securities without the confusion that might come from similarly named companies (or even different shares offered by these companies).

Traders can recognize the stock exchange on which these companies trade based on the number of letters in the symbol. For instance, stocks that trade on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) have three letters, while those on the Nasdaq have four.

Publicly traded stocks also contain suffixes that alert shareholders to specific situations pertinent to the company. These suffixes appear as the fifth letter following a dot after a company’s ticker symbol. The letter J is one of those suffixes. This designation identifies public security issues that have voting rights.

J also reveals that there is more than one issue of a company’s common stock. For example, Alphabet Inc. offers different classes of stock:

1. Class A Shares (GOOGL)

• Voting Rights: One vote per share.
• Description: Class A shares are common stock with voting rights. Holders of Class A shares can participate in corporate voting, though with less influence compared with Class B shares.

2. Class B Shares (Not publicly traded)

• Voting Rights: 10 votes per share.
• Description: Class B shares are primarily held by Google founders Larry Page, Sergey Brin, and other insiders. These shares give significant control over corporate decisions because of their higher voting power but are not available for public trading.

3. Class C Shares (GOOG)

• Voting Rights: No voting rights.
• Description: Class C shares have no voting rights. These shares were created in 2014 to allow Alphabet to issue stock without diluting Class A and B shareholders' voting control. The public and institutional investors often hold these.

The letter J is only added temporarily when there is a shareholder vote situation and is removed when the situation has been resolved.

Common stock with voting rights is considered voting stock. Most common stock comes with voting rights. These allow shareholders to vote on the board of director members or in corporate transactions like mergers. The exchange removes the designation once the shareholder vote situation is complete.

When the J Designation Is Used

Here are some reasons the "J" designation might be used temporarily:

• There are multiple classes of stock: A company may have several classes of common stock with different voting rights (e.g., Class A with one vote per share and Class C with no voting rights). In such cases, the "J" could be used to clearly indicate a specific class of shares with voting rights, especially if there is also a nonvoting class (like Class C shares of Alphabet).
• Corporate restructuring or spin-offs: In the case of mergers, acquisitions, or spin-offs, companies may temporarily issue shares with modified voting rights. The "J" designation could help differentiate these shares during the transition period, especially when shareholders need clarity on their voting power during important corporate events.
• Special voting rights: A company may temporarily allocate special voting rights to certain shareholders as part of a restructuring or to protect its management control. For example, a company could issue shares with enhanced or restricted voting rights and designate them with a "J" to clarify their distinction from regular voting shares.
• Convertible securities: Sometimes, securities (such as preferred shares or convertible bonds) convert into common stock with voting rights at a future date. In this context, the "J" designation could be used for a transitional period when the shares acquire voting rights but are still being differentiated from regular common shares.

J vs. Other Letter Designations

The Nasdaq uses a variety of letters, which are called fifth-letter designations, to distinguish stock issuances and the rights that come along with them. J is just one of those designations.

Like J, the letter D is also a temporary suffix. D represents a new issue, noting that it’s a corporate reorganization.

If you see a ticker symbol with the letter H after a dot, the issuance is the company's second preferred bond. The K at the end of a symbol means the stock is nonvoting.

The letter E means the company is delinquent with a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, while C means the company doesn't meet all requirements for listing on the Nasdaq. An A or B means the company’s A or B shares, respectively, and most of the various other letters deal with being a preferred, convertible, or rights issuance.

The Bottom Line

J is a Nasdaq-listed stock designation specifying that the stock has voting rights. It appears as the fifth letter following a dot after a stock’s four-letter ticker symbol. J is added to denote a shareholder vote situation.

The letter is temporary and is removed once the shareholder vote has been completed.