Oracle to Leave Nasdaq for the Big Board

Oracle, one of the most prominent technology companies listed on the Nasdaq, is defecting to a rival exchange.

The company, which has been traded on the Nasdaq since 1986, has applied to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange, it said in a filing on Thursday. The transfer, among the largest ever between the exchanges, represents a significant gain for the Big Board, which has been trying to bolster its technology credentials.

Oracle, with a market capitalization of $156.4 billion as of Thursday’s close, said its board had determined that the transfer “would be in the best interests of its stockholders, customers and partners.”

The company expects its stock to begin trading on the N.Y.S.E. on July 15, contingent on approval of the exchange.

Oracle’s shares tumbled more than 9 percent in after-hours trading after the company announced disappointing quarterly results. The stock fell 2.6 percent during the day amid a broad market slump.

“Nasdaq offers a low-cost valueproposition that has delivered one of the most liquid stocks in the world, Oracle, whose market cap grew 10,000 percent since 1990,” Ryan Wells, a spokesman for Nasdaq, said in an e-mailed statement. “We wish them well in the future.”

The defection inflames a longstanding rivalry between the N.Y.S.E. and Nasdaq. In May, the Perrigo Company announced it would transfer its stock to the N.Y.S.E. from Nasdaq, following similar moves by Infosys and Teva Pharmaceutical last year.

Companies have moved in the opposite direction as well. This year, eight companies have switched to Nasdaq from the N.Y.S.E., including MoneyGram and Vanguard Natural Resources, according to Nasdaq data.

Though it is known for its focus on technology companies, Nasdaq suffered a blow to its reputation after the problematic initial public offering of Facebook last year. The parent company of the exchange was recently fined $10 million by the Securities and Exchange Commission for “poor systems and decision! making” related to the I.P.O.

The announcement by Oracle came as the company reported earnings for its fiscal fourth quarter. Net income was $3.81 billion, or 80 cents a share, an increase from results in the period a year earlier but below the 87 cents a share that analysts had expected.

In its new home, Oracle will continue to trade under its current ticker symbol, “ORCL.”