IQST - IQSTD - IQSTEL (NASDAQ: IQST) Begins Trading on NASDAQ Today -- Launches New Era as Scalable High-Tech Growth Company on Path to $1 Billion Revenue

NEW YORK, May 14, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- IQSTEL Inc. (NASDAQ: IQST), a U.S.-based multinational technology company, proudly announces that it has officially begun trading today on The NASDAQ Capital Market under the ticker symbol IQST. This milestone marks a defining moment in the company's transformation—from a telecom operator into a scalable, high-tech global enterprise.

"We are very proud to be entering the NASDAQ national exchange," said Leandro Iglesias, CEO of IQSTEL. "This uplisting is the result of years of hard work, discipline, and a long-term vision shared by our shareholders, investors, executives, employees, partners, customers, and vendors—many of whom have supported us since our beginning in June 2018 on the OTC Markets."

IQSTEL's capital markets journey began with $13.8 million in revenue in 2018. Today, with a 2025 revenue forecast of $340 million and a long-term vision to reach $1 billion in annual revenue by 2027, the company continues to demonstrate consistent execution and strong scalability.

"Our business model is highly scalable," added Iglesias. "We can grow revenue significantly without proportionally increasing our operating expenses. Every additional dollar in revenue has a direct impact on EBITDA and profitability—exactly the kind of leverage long-term investors seek."

IQSTEL's NASDAQ Listing: A Catalyst for Shareholder Value Creation

IQSTEL's uplisting to the NASDAQ Capital Market brings immediate and long-term strategic advantages across eight key dimensions:

1. Institutional Access and Global Visibility

• NASDAQ listing expands IQSTEL's visibility among institutional and international investors, many of whom are restricted from investing in OTC-listed or sub-$3 stocks.
• The uplisting strengthens brand credibility and investor trust, positioning the company on a globally recognized platform.

2. Strengthened Commercial Trust and Business Expansion

• Operating in over 20 countries, IQSTEL maintains thousands of B2B relationships. These partners can now easily invest in the company through mainstream brokerage channels.
• Large enterprise customers and vendors often prefer working with listed partners. As a NASDAQ-listed company, IQSTEL expects to see increased transaction volumes and stronger partnerships.
• The company's organic growth in 2024 reached nearly $100 million, and with its new visibility, that pace is expected to accelerate further.

3. Reopening International Retail Demand

• Previously, UK-based trading platforms enabled retail investors abroad to purchase IQSTEL shares (IQST), driving high demand.
• When OTC stocks were later restricted, this interest was sidelined. Now, as a NASDAQ-listed stock, IQSTEL (IQST) is once again accessible to global retail markets—reopening an important demand channel.

4. Structural Revaluation Opportunity

• IQSTEL currently trades at only 10% of its 2024 revenue ($283 million in 2024), representing a P/S ratio of 0.10x.
• In contrast, comparable NASDAQ-listed telecom and tech firms often trade at 1.0x revenue or higher, even when not profitable.
• With a tight float of under 3 million shares, this presents a clear opportunity for significant valuation uplift.

5. Scalable and Profitable Operations

• IQSTEL's platform is designed to scale without proportionally increasing costs.
• The company's Telecom Division is already profitable, generating both positive Adjusted EBITDA and Net Income, validating the operational model.

6. Strategic M&A and Capital Market Flexibility

• As a NASDAQ-listed company, IQSTEL gains access to growth capital on better terms, enhancing its acquisition strategy.
• The company can now use publicly traded stock as a currency for M&A deals—creating new opportunities to acquire EBITDA-positive businesses aligned with its roadmap.

7. Shareholder Alignment and No Dilution

• IQSTEL's uplisting was executed through a direct listing, meaning no capital raise and no dilution to current shareholders.
• The company's only convertible instruments are held by one long-term investor with maturity dates set for Q1 2026—creating no short-term selling pressure.

8. High-Tech Product Expansion and Strategic Evolution

• IQSTEL is an international telecommunications service provider, delivering voice termination, A2P SMS, international fiber-optic connectivity, and DID services to some of the largest telecom operators globally, including several listed on NASDAQ and NYSE.
• With this foundation of global credibility and commercial trust, the company is now executing a strategic transformation into a high-tech global corporation, focused on delivering High-Tech Telecom Services, Fintech Solutions, AI Telecom Services, and Cybersecurity Services.
• The first milestone in this transition is the rollout of QXTEL's white-label eSIM and Roaming Connectivity platform. It enables enterprises and mobile operators to launch their own branded offerings rapidly using QXTEL services.
• These services are built on IQSTEL's deeply integrated business platform, which handles hundreds of millions of dollars in telecom transactions annually—creating a powerful base for recurring high-margin growth and long-term value creation.

A Vision to $1 Billion

IQSTEL's NASDAQ listing is not just a milestone—it's the beginning of a new era. With a proven ability to grow organically and through acquisitions, and with operations in more than 20 countries, IQSTEL is fully equipped to scale into a $1 billion revenue corporation by 2027.

"This moment belongs to every shareholder who believed in us from the beginning," concluded Iglesias. "We've built something powerful—and now, as a NASDAQ-listed company, we're ready to show the world what IQSTEL can really become."

About IQSTEL Inc.

IQSTEL Inc. (NASDAQ: IQST) is a multinational technology company offering cutting-edge solutions in Telecom, Fintech, Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Cybersecurity. Operating in 21 countries, IQSTEL delivers high-value, high-margin services to its extensive global customer base. IQSTEL projects $340 million in revenue for FY-2025, building on its strong business platform.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures: The Company uses certain financial calculations such as Adjusted EBITDA, Return on Assets and Return on Equity as factors in the measurement and evaluation of the Company's operating performance and period-over-period growth. The Company derives these financial calculations on the basis of methodologies other than generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP"), primarily by excluding from a comparable GAAP measure certain items the Company does not consider to be representative of its actual operating performance. These financial calculations are "non-GAAP financial measures" as defined under the SEC rules. The Company uses these non-GAAP financial measures in operating its business because management believes they are less susceptible to variances in actual operating performance that can result from the excluded items, other infrequent charges and currency fluctuations. The Company presents these financial measures to investors because management believes they are useful to investors in evaluating the primary factors that drive the Company's core operating performance and provide greater transparency into the Company's results of operations. However, items that are excluded and other adjustments and assumptions that are made in calculating these non-GAAP financial measures are significant components in understanding and assessing the Company's financial performance. These non-GAAP financial measures should be evaluated in conjunction with, and are not a substitute for, the Company's GAAP financial measures. Further, because these non-GAAP financial measures are not determined in accordance with GAAP, and are thus susceptible to varying calculations, the non-GAAP financial measures, as presented, may not be comparable to other similarly-titled measures of other companies.

Adjusted EBITDA is not a recognized accounting measurement under GAAP; it should not be considered as an alternative to net income, as a measure of operating results, or as an alternative to cash flow as a measure of liquidity. It is presented here not as an alternative to net income, but rather as a measure of the Company's operating performance. Adjusted EBITDA excludes, in addition to non-operational expenses like interest expenses, taxes, depreciation and amortization; items that we believe are not indicative of our operating performance, such as:

• Change in Fair Value of Derivative Liabilities: These adjustments reflect unrealized gains or losses that are non-operational and subject to market volatility.
• Loss on Settlement of Debt: This represents non-recurring expenses associated with specific financing activities and does not impact ongoing business operations.
• Stock-Based Compensation: As a non-cash expense, this adjustment eliminates variability caused by equity-based incentives.

The Company believes Adjusted EBITDA offers a clearer view of the cash-generating potential of its business, excluding non-recurring, non-cash, and non-operational impacts. Management believes that Adjusted EBITDA is useful in evaluating the Company's operating performance compared to that of other companies in its industry because the calculation of Adjusted EBITDA generally eliminates the effects of financing, income taxes, non-cash and certain other items that may vary for different companies for reasons unrelated to overall operating performance and also believes this information is useful to investors.

Safe Harbor Statement: Statements in this news release may be "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements that express our intentions, beliefs, expectations, strategies, predictions, or any other information relating to our future activities or other future events or conditions. Words such as "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "intend", "could" and similar expressions, as they relate to the company or its management, identify forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations, estimates, and projections about our business based partly on assumptions made by management. Important factors that could cause our actual results and financial condition to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements include, among others, the following: our ability to successfully market our products and services; our continued ability to pay operating costs and ability to meet demand for our products and services; the amount and nature of competition from other telecom products and services; the effects of changes in the cybersecurity and telecom markets; our ability to successfully develop new products and services; our ability to complete complementary acquisitions and dispositions that benefit our company; our success establishing and maintaining collaborative, strategic alliance agreements with our industry partners; our ability to comply with applicable regulations; our ability to secure capital when needed; and the other risks and uncertainties described in our prior filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties, and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may and are likely to differ materially from what is expressed or forecasted in forward-looking statements due to numerous factors. Any forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this news release, and IQSTEL Inc. undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this news release.

For more information, please visit www.IQSTEL.com.

SOURCE iQSTEL