Too little motion: the hottest ASX stock of 2026 is moving to the US to list on the NASDAQ

Sunrise Energy Metals (ASX: SRL) is moving to the US, ditching the relatively illiquid Australian stock market for Wall Street, and perhaps unsurprisingly it’s gunning straight for the NASDAQ.

It’s a logical decision but one which underscores the structural difficulties facing the bourse down under. Which are myriad, but can basically be boiled down to a depressing reality: there’s just more investors with more money trading more often in the States.

And, despite the fact some big IPOs have been delayed recently as US 10Y bond yields hit record highs, there’s more companies regularly listing, too.

But there’s another reason it may irk Australians, if only on a point of national pride: in a year perhaps lacking strong standouts, SRL has been one of the hottest stocks this year.

Sunrise is up +300% over the last twelve months, climbing from $5.40/sh in October last year to $21.55/sh at the time of writing. It’s clocked +30% just in the last month, and it’s outperforming the XJO by 300%, too.

Part of the interest in the stock is that it’s inked a deal with the US Department of Defense (or, Department of War if you prefer) and remains one of the strongest candidates for the US-Australia critical metals thesis.

The company mines nickel, cobalt and the somewhat-obscure critical mineral scandium; it’s an A$3.6B market cap company and due to its ripper twelve month gains, it’s up there with other miners like WA1 Resources when investors look for ASX stocks that made millionaires.

And now, it’s moving to the NASDAQ. It will remain on the ASX with CDIs, but it’s spiritual and literal home will both be the US.

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