The Liquidity Grade, explained
A Liquidity Grade describes how actively a company's shares trade on the secondary market relative to other private companies. It answers “how real is this price for companies like mine,” not “can I sell.”
Where it comes from
The same marketplace that provides estimated share prices also ranks the companies it covers by relative trading activity. ExitCue converts that ranking into a band across the roughly 2,000 ranked companies: A for the top 10%, B for the next 25%, C for the next 40%, and D for the rest. We show the band instead of the raw position because a precise rank changes day to day and implies more precision than the data supports.
How to read it
A higher grade means more observed trading interest, which generally makes the estimated share price a better-supported reference point. A lower grade means fewer observations: the price still comes from real activity, but expect wider uncertainty and staler dates. Each grade reflects the ranking as of its calculation date.
What this doesn't mean
The grade describes the company's market, not your grant. It does not mean your shares can be sold: transfer restrictions in your grant documents, your company's approval process, and buyer demand govern any actual sale. A high grade is not a suggestion to do anything, and a low grade is not a judgment of your company. Like every number in ExitCue, it is an educational estimate, not investment, legal, or tax advice.
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General education, not investment, legal, or tax advice. Grant documents and plan rules vary by company and override anything described here — read yours, and talk to a qualified professional about your own situation.