FALSE000188061300018806132025-10-242025-10-24
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT
PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(D)
OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): October 1, 2026
Direct Digital Holdings, Inc.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
| | | | | | | | |
| Delaware | 001-41261 | 87-2306185 |
(State or other jurisdiction
of incorporation) | (Commission
File Number) | (IRS Employer
Identification No.) |
| | | | | |
1177 West Loop South, Suite 1310 Houston, Texas | 77027 |
| (Address of principal executive offices) | (Zip Code) |
Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (832) 402-1051
Not Applicable
(Former name or former address, if changed since last report)
Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:
| | | | | |
| ☐ | Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425) |
| |
| ☐ | Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12) |
| |
| ☐ | Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b)) |
| |
| ☐ | Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c)) |
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Exchange Act:
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Title of each class | | Trading
Symbol(s) | | Name of each exchange on which registered |
| Class A Common Stock, par value $0.001 per share | | DRCT | | The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC |
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (§230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) (§240.12b-2 of this chapter).
Emerging growth company ☒
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐
Item 3.01 Notice of Delisting or Failure to Satisfy a Continued Listing Rule or Standard; Transfer of Listing.
As previously disclosed, Direct Digital Holdings, Inc. (the “Company”) was granted an extension by the Nasdaq Hearings Panel with respect to the deadline for the Company to comply with the minimum stockholders’ equity requirement under Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(b)(1). On October 1, 2026, the Company received a notice (the “Delist Determination”) from The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (“Nasdaq”) indicating that based on the Company's failure to comply with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(b)(1) before the end of the extension period, Nasdaq had determined to delist the Company’s securities and suspend trading in the Company’s securities effective with the open of business on Monday, October 5, 2026. In accordance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5820, the Company may appeal the Delist Determination to the Nasdaq Listing and Hearing Review Council (the “Listing Council”) within 15 days from the date of the Delist Determination. The Listing Council may also separately elect to review this matter within 45 days of the Delist Determination. The Company expects that Nasdaq will move to file a Form 25 with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) to effect the formal delisting of the Company’s securities from Nasdaq once all applicable Nasdaq appeal and review periods have expired.
The Company anticipates that, upon the suspension of trading of its Class A Common Stock on Nasdaq, the Company’s shares of Class A Common Stock will begin trading on the OTC Markets’ OTC Pink “Limited Information” tier under its current symbol “DRCT,” which may have a material adverse effect on the trading price and volume for the Class A Common Stock. There can be no assurance that a market for the Class A Common Stock will develop or be maintained on the OTC Markets system, and the Company’s stockholders may find it more difficult to buy or sell their shares.
Forward Looking Statements
This Current Report on Form 8-K may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities laws, including the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and which are subject to certain risks, trends and uncertainties. As used below, “we,” “us,” and “our” refer to Direct Digital. We use words such as “could,” “would,” “may,” “might,” “will,” “expect,” “likely,” “believe,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “intend,” “plan,” “prospect,” “project” and other similar expressions to identify forward-looking statements, but not all forward-looking statements include these words. All statements contained in this Current Report on Form 8-K that do not relate to matters of historical fact should be considered forward-looking statements. All of our forward-looking statements involve estimates and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by the forward-looking statements. Our forward-looking statements are based on assumptions that we have made in light of our industry experience and our perceptions of historical trends, current conditions, expected future developments and other factors we believe are appropriate under the circumstances. Although we believe that these forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, many factors could affect our actual operating and financial performance and cause our performance to differ materially from the performance expressed in or implied by the forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to: the restrictions and covenants imposed upon us by our credit facilities; the substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern, which may hinder our ability to obtain future financing; our ability to secure additional financing to meet our capital needs; our ability to maintain compliance with the listing standards of the Nasdaq Capital Market; our ability to realize the benefits of our strategic shift to focusing on driving digital marketing spend among historical buyers of managed advertising campaigns and new enterprise customers; any significant fluctuations caused by our high customer concentration; risks related to non-payment by our clients; reputational and other harms caused by our failure to detect advertising fraud; operational and performance issues with our platform, whether real or perceived, including a failure to respond to technological changes or to upgrade our technology systems; restrictions on the use of third-party “cookies,” mobile device IDs or other tracking technologies, which could diminish our platform’s effectiveness; unfavorable publicity and negative public perception about our industry, particularly concerns regarding data privacy and security relating to our industry’s technology and practices, and any perceived failure to comply with laws and industry self-regulation; our failure to manage our growth effectively; the difficulty in identifying and integrating any future acquisitions or strategic investments; any changes or developments in legislative, judicial, regulatory or cultural environments related to information collection, use and processing; challenges related to our clients that are destination marketing organizations and that operate as public/private partnerships; any strain on our resources or diversion of our management’s attention as a result of being a public company; the intense competition of the digital advertising industry and our ability to effectively compete against current and future competitors; any significant inadvertent disclosure or breach of confidential and/or personal information we hold, or of the security of our or our customers’, suppliers’ or other partners’ computer systems; as a holding company, we depend on distributions from DDH LLC to pay our taxes, expenses (including payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement) and any amount of any dividends we may pay to the holders of our common stock; any failure by us to maintain or implement effective internal controls or to detect fraud; and other factors and assumptions discussed in the “Risk Factors,” “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Conditions and Results of Operations” and other sections of our filings with the SEC that we make from time to time. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize or should any of these assumptions prove to be incorrect, our actual
operating and financial performance may vary in material respects from the performance projected in or implied by these forward-looking statements. Further, any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made, and except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement contained in this Current Report on Form 8-K to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which it is made or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events or circumstances, and we claim the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
SIGNATURE
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
| | | | | |
October 2, 2026
(Date) | Direct Digital Holdings, Inc. (Registrant) |
| |
| /s/ DIANA P. DIAZ |
| Diana P. Diaz Chief Financial Officer |
