Stats › Individual stocks › Listing lifespan

The median US stock lasts 6.8 years on the exchange

Under 1 year: 1327 stocks+1327 stocksUnder 1 year1 to 5 years: 10217 stocks+10217 stocks1 to 5 years5 to 20 years: 12395 stocks+12395 stocks5 to 20 yearsOver 20 years: 5139 stocks+5139 stocksOver 20 years

Source: Bessembinder, Which U.S. Stocks Generated the Highest Long-Term Returns?, SSRN, July 2024, revised November 2024. The four buckets sum to 29,078. Durations are censored at both ends of the sample, so the short buckets include recent listings that are still going.

US stocks enter the CRSP database when they list and leave when they delist. Across 29,078 of them since 1925 the median stay is 6.8 years and the mean is 11.6. Most listings end in a takeover rather than a failure.

6.8 yearsMedian listed life
11.6 yearsMean listed life
29,078Stocks in the sample
45.1%Exits that were takeovers

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