About OTCQX Stocks

Introduction

Stocks that are classified as trading in the OTCQX market are considered to have the best disclosure practices for OTC stocks according to the OTC Markets Group. If you are new to OTC stocks, you can read about OTC stocks. This article analyzes the stocks in the OTCQX market, in order to get a "big picture" view of the OTCQX market. You can see those stocks using our list of OTCQX stocks.

Analysis

Here is a summary of the OTCQX stocks based on size category:

Category	Security Count	Total Market Cap	%
Large cap	53	$2,301,612,355,492	90.68%
Mid cap	32	$157,577,333,271	6.21%
Small cap	68	$48,465,841,805	1.91%
Micro cap	431	$30,613,601,083	1.21%
Unknown	10	$0	0.00%
Total	594	$2,538,269,131,651	100.00%

As explained in our article size categories, there is no standard definition of what makes up a "large cap" stock or a "mid cap" stock. On our website, we use a cutoff of $10 billion to determine a large cap stock. This is a just a widely used rule of thumb that we have also chosen to use. Similarly, a "mid cap" stock under our definition is a stock with a market capitalization between $2 billion and $10 billion, a small cap stock has a market capitalization between $300 million and $2 billion, and a micro cap stock has a market capitalization under $300 million.

Here is a summary of the OTCQX stocks based on security type:

Category	Security Count	Total Market Cap	%
ADRs	63	$1,298,901,192,569	51.17%
Common stocks	528	$1,237,404,068,206	48.75%
REITs	2	$1,957,124,844	0.08%
Units	1	$6,746,032	0.00%
Total	594	$2,538,269,131,651	100.00%

But a large portion of the OTCQX common stocks are foreign companies that have cross-listed their shares on the U.S. OTC market:

Category	Security Count	Total Market Cap	%
Foreign common stocks	367	$1,217,363,927,770	98.38%
U.S. common stocks	161	$20,040,140,436	1.62%
Total	528	$1,237,404,068,206	100.00%

Combined with the large number of ADRs, the result is that OTCQX stocks are mostly foreign companies, especially if you just look at market cap totals. Here is a summary of the OTCQX stocks based on country:

Country	Security Count	Total Market Cap	%
Switzerland	5	$562,506,299,281	22.16%
Germany	19	$520,947,225,105	20.52%
France	12	$394,511,443,266	15.54%
The Netherlands	10	$304,828,169,843	12.01%
United Kingdom	36	$288,907,201,448	11.38%
Mexico	3	$113,936,073,723	4.49%
Australia	23	$95,556,838,304	3.76%
Canada	278	$65,168,235,430	2.57%
Spain	3	$40,999,025,577	1.62%
Belgium	3	$37,470,722,387	1.48%
Norway	7	$30,717,591,850	1.21%
USA	163	$20,309,145,665	0.80%
Brazil	3	$17,641,125,616	0.70%
Turkey	3	$14,580,480,000	0.57%
China	4	$10,886,401,800	0.43%
South Africa	3	$8,687,994,909	0.34%
Colombia	1	$3,533,492,501	0.14%
Russia	2	$2,661,224,733	0.10%
Hong Kong	2	$1,311,469,145	0.05%
Ireland	1	$1,307,009,712	0.05%
Sweden	5	$867,826,894	0.03%
Egypt	1	$550,496,562	0.02%
India	1	$189,314,744	0.01%
Japan	1	$105,042,508	0.00%
Israel	3	$74,861,784	0.00%
Denmark	1	$13,917,814	0.00%
Singapore	1	$501,050	0.00%
Total	594	$2,538,269,131,651	100.00%

Notice the large number of Canadian companies. There are a large number of small Canadian mining and energy companies that are cross-listed on the U.S. OTC market. Here is a summary of the Canadian stocks based on size category:

Category	Security Count	Total Market Cap	%
Small cap	38	$26,536,985,077	40.72%
Mid cap	4	$24,322,864,785	37.32%
Micro cap	233	$14,308,385,568	21.96%
Unknown	3	$0	0.00%
Total	278	$65,168,235,430	100.00%

Because these are smaller Canadian companies, their primary listing tends to be on one of Canada's smaller stock exchanges and not on the Toronto Stock Exchange:

Exchange	Security Count	Total Market Cap	%
Toronto Stock Exchange	51	$36,211,726,539	55.57%
	134	$11,740,684,216	18.02%
TSX Venture Exchange	66	$10,865,377,036	16.67%
Canadian Securities Exchange	27	$6,350,447,639	9.74%
Total	278	$65,168,235,430	100.00%

The U.S. companies tend to be microcaps. Here is a summary of the U.S. stocks based on size category:

Category	Security Count	Total Market Cap	%
Micro cap	146	$12,241,942,532	60.28%
Small cap	9	$5,491,026,632	27.04%
Mid cap	1	$2,576,176,501	12.68%
Unknown	7	$0	0.00%
Total	163	$20,309,145,665	100.00%

The U.S. companies are mostly regional banks:

Industry	Security Count	Total Market Cap	%
Banks-Regional	103	$12,342,267,400	60.77%
Asset Management	10	$2,948,554,592	14.52%
Information Technology Services	1	$1,594,378,453	7.85%
Financial Data & Stock Exchanges	1	$673,383,724	3.32%
Resorts & Casinos	2	$358,358,107	1.76%
Drug Manufacturers—Specialty & Generic	4	$357,484,466	1.76%
Real Estate Services	4	$281,519,077	1.39%
REIT—Specialty	1	$262,259,197	1.29%
Insurance—Life	1	$218,845,156	1.08%
	7	$199,850,889	0.98%
REIT—Diversified	1	$130,615,999	0.64%
Restaurants	1	$126,816,534	0.62%
Residential Construction	1	$91,520,261	0.45%
Packaged Foods	2	$87,653,504	0.43%
Utilities—Regulated Gas	1	$76,164,352	0.38%
Shell Companies	2	$73,063,969	0.36%
Medical Care Facilities	1	$70,116,459	0.35%
Insurance—Specialty	2	$59,952,857	0.30%
Consulting Services	1	$55,178,225	0.27%
Tools & Accessories	1	$46,755,841	0.23%
Oil & Gas E&P	1	$44,277,805	0.22%
Software—Application	1	$38,117,976	0.19%
Biotechnology	3	$35,692,045	0.18%
Farm Products	1	$32,188,127	0.16%
Capital Markets	1	$30,022,723	0.15%
Telecom Services	1	$24,396,656	0.12%
Oil & Gas Refining & Marketing	1	$21,487,634	0.11%
Security & Protection Services	1	$8,461,503	0.04%
Consumer Electronics	1	$6,832,663	0.03%
Other	1	$6,746,032	0.03%
Scientific & Technical Instruments	1	$4,626,866	0.02%
Oil & Gas Equipment & Services	1	$1,501,122	0.01%
Industrial Distribution	1	$55,451	0.00%
Internet Content & Information	1	$0	0.00%
Total	163	$20,309,145,665	100.00%

All data is a live query from our database. The wording was last updated: 06/01/2020.