📈 FINANCIAL NEWS GUIDE

How to Format Stock Symbols in a Press Release

Ensure your company’s news appears in Google Finance and major financial news sites.



⚠️ IMPORTANT: If your stock symbol and company name are not presented correctly within your press release, it may not be included in Google Finance or other financial news sites that track your stock symbol.
📌 NOTE: This guide only applies to press releases about publicly held companies. Private companies can ignore stock symbol formatting requirements.



Correct Stock Symbol Formatting

Below are the correct formats for each exchange type. The company name must appear immediately before the symbol, exactly as shown.

Pink Sheets / OTC Pink

Company Name (Pink:SYMBOL)

Example: ABC Holdings (Pink:ABCH)

OTC Bulletin Board (OTCBB)

Company Name (OTCBB:SYMBOL)

Example: ABC Holdings (OTCBB:ABCH)

OTCQB Venture Market

Company Name (OTCQB:SYMBOL)

Example: ABC Holdings (OTCQB:ABCH)

New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)

Company Name (NYSE:SYMBOL)

Example: Apple Inc. (NYSE:AAPL)

NASDAQ

Company Name (NASDAQ:SYMBOL)

Example: Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

American Stock Exchange (AMEX)

Company Name (AMEX:SYMBOL)

Example: ABC Holdings (AMEX:ABCH)



Critical Requirements

  • The company name must be exactly the same as what Google Finance uses for that stock symbol.
  • The company name must come immediately before the symbol — no extra words, punctuation, or line breaks in between.
  • The company name and symbol must be close to the beginning of the first paragraph — ideally within the first 100 characters.
  • There should be NO hyperlinks in the first paragraph — links can interfere with financial indexing systems.
  • Use the correct exchange designation — NYSE, NASDAQ, OTCBB, OTCQB, Pink, or AMEX.
  • Use parentheses around the exchange and symbol — never brackets or other punctuation.



Good vs. Bad Examples

✅ CORRECT:

NEW YORK, NY – Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) today announced record quarterly revenue of $124.3 billion…

✓ Company name matches Google Finance • Symbol immediately after • No hyperlinks • In first paragraph

❌ INCORRECT:

Apple Inc., which trades on the NASDAQ under the symbol AAPL, today announced…

✗ Symbol not in parentheses • “Under the symbol” format not recognized • May be excluded from Google Finance

❌ INCORRECT (Hyperlinks):

<a href=”#”>Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)</a> today announced…

✗ Hyperlink in first paragraph prevents proper indexing



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