Robinhood Markets or AppLovin could gain admission to the S&P 500 now that an opening has been created withChevron’s acquisition of HessFriday.
There has been ongoing speculation that Robinhood and AppLovin could join the S&P 500 because they are the largest U.S. companies based on market capitalization that aren’t now in the benchmark index. AppLovin is valued at $123 billion and Robinhood at $93 billion.
Both stocks were higher in early trading Friday with AppLovin up 2.5% at $373 and Robinhood 4.4% higher at $110. Index addition speculation could be a catalyst.
Both missed the cut recently when S&P Dow Jones Indices, which oversees the S&P 500 index, added The Trade Desk to the benchmark, replacing Ansys, which was purchased by Synopsys. Trade Desk joins the S&P 500 today.
An announcement of a replacement for Hess, a former constituent in the S&P 500, could come late Friday. S&P Dow Jones Indices announced the Trade Desk addition on July 14, the same day Synopsys said it would close the Ansys deal on July 17.
S&P Dow Jones Indices has considerable leeway in which companies it adds to the S&P 500 and it generally doesn’t disclose reasons why particular ones are added. But it usually gets around to adding the largest companies that aren’t in the index. Trade Desk, which operates an online ad platform, wasn’t high on the list of potential candidates when it was added.
Besides Robinhood and AppLovin, other candidates for admission to the index include Carvana, Ares Management, and Cheniere Energy. Those three companies are among the largest companies not in the S&P 500.
Cheniere has a shot because it’s an energy company and has a similar market value to Hess at around $50 billion. Cheniere operates a large liquefied natural gas facility and is a big exporter of the fuel. Its stock was up 3.7% to $240 in early trading.
S&P Dow Jones Indices will sometimes replace a company with one in the same industry.
It’s worth noting that technology and financials are underrepresented in the index relative to their weighing in the overall stock market, which could mean a tech or financial company will be added.