By Nate Wolf

Trading on the New York Stock Exchange ended as usual at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, but the closing bell was rung 1,400 miles away from Wall Street in Arlington, Texas.

NYSE leadership, Texas business executives, and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott gathered at AT&T Stadium -- the home of the Dallas Cowboys -- to sound the bell and celebrate the recent launch of the state's first equities exchange.

The group had plenty of reasons to celebrate. NYSE announced in February that it was relocating its electronic equities exchange to Dallas from Chicago and renaming it NYSE Texas. In recent weeks, dozens of companies and exchange-traded fund issuers have announced dual listings on the relocated exchange.

The relocation came on the heels of the formation of the Texas Stock Exchange, or TXSE, a planned exchange backed by investors like BlackRock and Citadel Securities. While TXSE awaits approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission, the commitments from big-name issuers have given NYSE a head start on the financial world's new 'Y'all Street.'

"We're really excited about the progress we've made in a short amount of time," NYSE Group President Lynn Martin told Barron's.

Most NYSE Texas newcomers, dubbed founding members, have roots in the Lone Star State. Among the large-cap heavyweights, Dallas-based AT&T joined the exchange at the beginning of August and Houston's NRG Energy announced its listing on Monday. Florida-based Trump Media & Technology Group, whose largest shareholder is President Donald Trump's family, was the first company to join NYSE Texas after its relocation in late March.

In total, the exchange has claimed 62 new listings since the move -- 49 equity issuers and 13 ETFs, NYSE said. They've joined 27 holdovers from Chicago, such as the insurance giant Allstate and professional-services company Marsh McClennan.

One reason for the barrage of listings is timing: Many corporate boards just voted on the resolutions at recent quarterly meetings, Martin noted. But the addition of household Texas names also has captured companies' attention, she added.

"Clearly getting some benchmark companies such as AT&T announcing that they dual-listed was part of the reason behind the flurry of activity," Martin said.

Trading volume remains low but not insignificant. NYSE Texas has handled a daily average of $9.3 billion in trades over the last five sessions, or around 2.2% of all trading on U.S. exchanges, according to data from Cboe Global Markets.

All equities on NYSE Texas are dual-listed for now, but there will be an opportunity for primary listings on the exchange in the future once the requisite infrastructure is in place, Martin said.

"It's a really low lift for anyone who is already listed on the New York Stock Exchange," Martin said. "And we tried to do that intentionally."

At this point, the race to get Texas businesses listed may be more important than the day-to-day operations at the exchange. That's particularly true as TXSE waits in the wings.

Dallas-based TXSE Group announced last year that it had secured around $120 million in investment from backers like BlackRock and Citadel Securities to build a new electronic exchange. The group submitted a Form 1 registration to the SEC to operate as a national securities exchange earlier this year. If granted, it intends to launch trading in early 2026.

TXSE has pitched itself as the more comprehensive -- and more Texan -- exchange compared to its New York-based competitor. It also emphasized it intends to offer both primary and dual-listings.

"Companies are looking for a complete solution that addresses their frustrations with the lack of alignment and transparency in the market," a TXSE spokesperson told Barron's. "There is only one stock exchange that is being built and headquartered in Texas."

Martin didn't comment on whether NYSE Texas issuers may also pursue listings on TXSE. The upstart competitor, she said, wasn't on NYSE's mind when it decided to swap Chicago for Dallas. Instead, Martin said the move was best seen as an endorsement of the state's pro-business environment under Gov. Abbott.

Investors in Intercontinental Exchange, NYSE's parent company, don't seem too spooked by the competition either. Shares have climbed 21% this year.

While the dueling exchanges compete for listings and trading volume over the coming years, the real winner here may be Texas itself. National exchanges, backed by big-name corporations and major investors, clearly see the Lone Star State as a fertile financial frontier. Nasdaq, too, announced in March that it would open a regional headquarters in Dallas.

Texas is home to the largest number of companies listed on NYSE, with 220 companies totaling $3.9 trillion in market value, NYSE Group said. And the continued influx of investment and attention -- even if it pales in comparison to Wall Street -- can only be good news for state leaders.

"With Texas' tremendous business success, we have NYSE coming here, growing here, and putting deeper roots in the state of Texas," said Abbott, who has also been a vocal supporter of TXSE. "This is the home of the economy, and it is going to be the home of financial exchanges going forward."

Write to Nate Wolf at nate.wolf@barrons.com

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 22, 2025 01:45 ET (05:45 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.