Nike could be the next company dropped from the Dow Jones Industrial Average given its low stock price -- and that might allow Berkshire Hathaway to finally make it into the venerable index.

Alphabet will be added to the Dow on June 29, replacing Verizon Communications.

S&P Dow Jones Indices, which oversees both the Dow industrials and S&P 500 index, said that Verizon is leaving in part because its low stock price--around $46 -- gave the company an "immaterial impact" on the price-weighted index.

Verizon's weighting was around 0.5%, while Goldman Sachs, whose stock trades for nearly $1,100 a share, has the highest weighting in the index at around 13%.

Nike is vulnerable to being booted out of the Dow industrials because it has an even lower stock price than Verizon, with shares trading at $42 apiece. The next-lowest stock price after Nike belongs to Coca-Cola at $81. Nike also has one of the lowest market capitalizations in the index at around $60 billion.

Why was Verizon dropped and not Nike? It could be because both Verizon and Alphabet are classified as communications companies by S&P Dow Jones, allowing the Dow's industry concentration to remain the same. S&P Dow Jones said in making the change that Alphabet is a more "representative" communication services company now than Verizon with its diverse revenue base.

What company could be next to join the Dow industrials? Berkshire Hathaway, which has a $1 trillion market capitalization, might finally make the cut -- and it would be fitting to add the conglomerate while its chairman and controlling shareholder Warren Buffett, 95, is still alive. Berkshire's class B shares trade at nearly $500 apiece, which would fit right into the index, which now is full of higher-priced stocks trading above $100 a share. Berkshire's weighting would be above 5%.

There are larger companies not in the Dow -- among them Broadcom, Meta Platforms, Micron Technology, and Tesla. But Berkshire is distinctive and would add a rock-solid company to the index. The index already includes five of the seven Magnificent Seven stocks: Nvidia, Alphabet, Amazon.com, Apple, and Microsoft.

There normally are changes to the Dow every year or two, and S&P Dow Jones is secretive about the process. The last change came in 2024, when Nvidia and Sherwin-Williams were added to the Dow industrials, while chemical maker Dow and Intel were dropped.

One hitch could be that the Dow industrials already are heavy in financial stocks, and Berkshire is classified as a financial company. The nearly 30% weighting in financials could drop quickly, however, if Goldman decides to do a stock split.

It's hard to predict what company will be added next, but Berkshire would be a worthwhile addition.

Write to Andrew Bary at andrew.bary@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

June 24, 2026 12:02 ET (16:02 GMT)

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