The S&P 500 has new company… or companies, rather. And among investors, two of the three additions in this quarter’s index were seen as overdue; more ‘about time’ than a surprise.
S&P Global announced Friday that adtech company AppLovin (APP) and fintech goliath Robinhood (HOOD) will be added to the S&P 500, replacing MarketAxess Holdings MKTX and Caesars Entertainment CZR in the index’s quarterly makeover.
Investors reacted to the changes in after hours trading on Friday, with Applovin and Robinhood stock jumping 6% respectively, while MarketAxess and Caesars fell 0.5% each in extended trading.
The high-flying names’ additions to the index come after they were shrugged off by the index’s selection committee multiple times. S&P Global made no changes to the world’s most-watched financial club in its quarterly shakeup in June. It further subverted expectations with one-off additions of smaller tech companies like cloud monitoring service Datadog (DDOG) , programmatic advertising company The Trade Desk (TTD) , and delivery app DoorDash (DASH) .
Meanwhile, AppLovin and Robinhood remained two of the index’s most eligible bachelors, becoming the first and third most valuable firms not already in the index, valued at $166 billion and $90 billion respectively. Their stocks have ascended 455% and 414% over the last year, making them two of the best-performing stocks on the U.S. markets.
A lesser-known industrial name, Emcor Group Inc. EME also scored inclusion in the index as part of the forthcoming shakeup, replacing the ailing solar firm Enphase Energy ENPH. The changes will take effect before the market opens on Sept. 22.
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