Why Are Some Stocks Not On Robinhood?

If you’ve been putting a lot of research into just exactly what you want to include in your nice, niche, broad and diversified portfolio.

Why Are Some Stocks Not On Robinhood?

You may be disappointed or just straight up confused when you get flashed with the now all-too-familiar message on Robinhood’s display: “The stock is not supported on Robinhood.”

Before you let your world come crashing down around you, let’s consider the many factors that can cause this message to appear.

Depending on why this stock is currently not available on Robinhood, it may mean that another trading app is more accustomed to your needs.

You need to better investigate the stocks you wish to trade- or the app may have warned you off something you would have regretted buying.

To discover whether your stock being unavailable should be considered a blessing or an annoyance, continue reading the article below:

What Does “The Stock Is Not Supported On Robinhood” Mean?

When you are confronted with the display message “The stock is not supported on Robinhood”, it usually means that Robinhood themselves have deemed it untradeable via their service, and this could be for a variety of reasons.

(First of all, check that your search query for the stock was correct before proceeding under the assumption that it has been disallowed).

Here are some reasons why the display message may appear for you:

  • Trading has been halted or paused via the exchange. Check the news to learn more.
  • The stock in question has been removed from the directory of major exchanges for trading, as per the OTC.
  • The stock in question may be foreign in origin, which can mean it is not supported by Robinhood.
  • Large-scale action affecting the security itself may have rendered it currently untradeable for any number of reasons.
  • Some stocks are disqualified from trade if they do not reach the conditions of a number of basic regulatory standards, including
  • Stocks being of too low a price
  • Stocks having too low of trade volumes (see also ‘What Is Volume In Stocks?‘)
  • Stocks having too low of a market cap

Robinhood the entity also will not support stocks if they fall under any of the below conditions:

  • A stoch which was listed on an exchange has not yet halted transactions
  • The company which you are trying to trade stocks on has delisted itself from major trades, and now works from the OTC market
  • The security in question is foreign and is not supported by Robinhood
  • Some form of major investigation is being made into the stock

Do You Lose Your Money If A Stock Is Delisted?

Do You Lose Your Money If A Stock Is Delisted?

If your stock was previously on Robinhood but has now been delisted, then you may be panicking, wondering if you have lost your money- but you needn’t worry.

Any stock which has been delisted may still be sold at the over the counter market using Robinhood, and if it is only delisted in Robinhood but is still available at the exchange, then it may still be possible to trade it via other trading apps.

You may still use money in other ways however- if a stock that you own being delisted shakes confidence in the market and people begin selling it.

Robinhood (see also ‘How To Add Money To Robinhood Without Bank Account‘) holds a lot of clout in trading because of the sheer amount of users which use it for trading, and if a stock becomes out of reach of Robinhood’s user base, then those users simply may decide to trade it away.

This is a massive potential market of traders which is being cut off at the source when Robinhood cuts them off. It is also a seriously bad look for the business and they may find it harder to perform their business or raise money as a result.

If you are a business which has been delisted from Robinhood, then you are probably aware of the reasons why your stocks have suddenly become untradeable over Robinhood’s platform for one of the reasons above.

It is actually possible for a business to be relisted on Robinhood once they have been delisted, although anecdotal references to this are few and far between.

If your business reconciles with the way in which it is breaking Robinhood’s protocols and corrects them, there is a possibility that your stocks may be considered tradeable again.

The difficulty and possibility of this happening entirely depends on the nature of the protocols flouted, and the actions required to correct them.

If you have been delisted from Robinhood for a serious issue such as market capitalization, or your business has gone into bankruptcy, then you will face significant challenges with being relisted.

Why Is Robinhood Not Letting Me Buy Or Trade?

There are a couple of reasons why your Robinhood account in particular may be being prevented from trading, if you are unable to trade but your stock is still listed/you have ruled out connection issues or acts of God.

Below are a number of reasons Robinhood may be preventing you from buying stocks:

  • You may not have the correct amount of purchasing power to invest or trade this stock (see also ‘Stock Trading For Beginners‘)
  • You are unable to reach the required equity for the margin minimum of the stock you are attempting to trade.
  • The style in which you conduct transactions may have automatically flagged your account and suspended your trade by the app itself.
  • You will need to contact Robinhood to settle this if you believe this has occurred unfairly
  • Your trading style may have flagged your account as a Pattern Day Trader, in violation of Robinhood’s protocols.

Can Robinhood Sell Your Stock?

If you have used up credit and you haven’t been able to settle this with Robinhood, they are entitled to sell your stock. The also may be required to fiduciarily make a sale of a stock, such as in the case of the WallStreetBets scandal with GameStop stock. 

Luke Baldwin