Facebook’s Meta ticker takes over in Canada, ignoring U.S. delay

Meta Platforms Inc., the newly renamed owner of Facebook, has already started trading under its updated ticker symbol in Canada, jumping ahead of the delayed switch for its main U.S. listing.

The new symbol — MVRS CN — took effect today for Canadian depositary receipts handled by the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, according to the Toronto-based bank. They’re listed on the Neo Exchange, an upstart equity market that struck a deal to be acquired by Cboe Global Markets Inc. in November. 

That puts the Canadian listing ahead of its U.S. counterpart, after Meta postponed the Dec. 1 change for the common shares just two days before it was to take effect and pushed it into next year’s first quarter. The company didn’t give a reason, but the rebranding caused confusion when investors piled into an exchange-traded fund that trades under the META ticker, as well as Nova Scotia-based Meta Materials Inc.

Meta’s CDRs closed down 4.3 per cent on Wednesday, slumping amid a broader market selloff.

Meta’s ticker symbol change reinforces the former Facebook’s push to rebrand away from its social networking roots, according to John Christofilos, chief trading officer at Toronto’s AGF Management Ltd. He pointed to Alphabet Inc., which held onto its ticker symbol GOOGL after it changed its name from Google Inc. in 2015.

“In Facebook’s case, they’re trying to change the entire image of the company,” Christofilos said. 

CIBC launched CDRs this year and added Facebook to the lineup in October. The trading tool, modeled on American depositary receipts, allows Canadian investors to own U.S. stocks while hedging their currency risk.

The roster already includes Amazon.com Inc., Alphabet Inc., Apple Inc., Netflix Inc. and Tesla Inc. as CDRs. On Wednesday, CIBC added eight more, including JPMorgan Chase & Co., Pfizer Inc., Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and International Business Machines Corp.