Sequans' market cap is $12.5 million below the NYSE's $50 million line before November 3 results
The French chipmaker raised $384 million to buy bitcoin, unwound the position by September, and now answers to the NYSE's market-cap rule before it answers to investors. Third-quarter results land on November 3.
Richard Tang · 3 min read
Sequans Communications−1.57% — Sequans Communications, down 1.57 percent today, the Paris-based chipmaker whose radios link payment terminals, smart meters and other connected devices to mobile networks, reports third-quarter results before the market opens on Tuesday 1. The figure that matters first is not revenue.
It is market value. In September the New York Stock Exchange notified the company that its average market capitalization had run below the exchange's $50 million line over thirty trading days, with stockholders' equity under the same bar 2. Friday's close valued the whole company at $37.5 million, $12.5 million short of the line 3. Missing the cure takes the ADS off the exchange, and Friday's tape, where only $68,500 changed hands, has no cushion for that 3.
The unwind is done; the cure period is not
The company walked into this through the balance sheet. In June 2025 it raised $384 million in equity and convertible debentures to buy bitcoin, with chief executive Georges Karam calling the coin "a premier asset and a compelling long-term investment" 4. Bitcoin then fell more than 30% 4.
By May 2026 the strategy was over: 658 coins left, worth about $48 million, and the convertible debt redeemed from earlier sales 4. The shares jumped 14.5% that morning as the market welcomed the exit 4. The remaining 314 coins were sold by September 24, leaving no debt outside government-financed research projects 5.
The chips claim momentum, the filings claim losses
Revenue more than halved from late 2024 to late 2025 and has only partly recovered
Data
| Total revenue | |
|---|---|
| Q3 '24 | $10.08M |
| Q4 '24 | $11.05M |
| Q1 '25 | $8.05M |
| Q2 '25 | $8.14M |
| Q3 '25 | $4.29M |
| Q4 '25 | $5.84M |
| Q1 '26 | $6.05M |
| Q2 '26 | $7.46M |
What is left is a real business under heavy overhead. The last reported quarter brought revenue of $7.5 million, down 8% year over year 3. The net loss was $9.8 million, wider than a year before 3.
Management counters that product revenue grew more than 80% year over year in the second quarter and that the six-month product backlog tripled 5. Tuesday's call settles which of those the market can price, and with a tape that thin there is little liquidity to arbitrage the dispute. Under NYSE rules the company has 90 days to submit a compliance plan and a nine-month cure period to get back above the line 2.
Forty European companies are still on the same trade
Sequans ran a trade other companies are still running. Forty European listed companies still hold bitcoin on their balance sheets 4, and a falling price puts them through the same sequence: coin sold to service the debt, then listing pressure as the market value of the shares shrinks underneath. The ledger of the trade is short: $384 million raised in June 2025 turned into about $48 million of bitcoin by May 2026 4, with the shares down more than 75% over the same span 4.
The chips underneath, the radios in payment terminals and smart meters, are the part worth keeping 1. What Tuesday's report must show is a compliance plan and cash covering the roughly $9.8 million quarterly burn through the cure period 23. Absent both, the decision on the ADS before Tuesday is to sell or hedge.
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