IBKR is set to replace the pharmaceutical retailer Walgreens Boots Alliance in a key benchmark index.
Interactive Brokers Group (IBKR) stock rose 4.7% in premarket trading on Tuesday after S&P Dow Jones Indices added it to the flagship S&P 500 index.
The investment holding company will replace the pharmaceutical retailer Walgreens Boots Alliance as it will soon be taken private by Sycamore Partners. Separately, Dow and Jones said that Talen Energy will be added to the S&P MidCap 400 index, following Interactive Brokers’ elevation. The changes will take effect on Aug. 28.
Inclusion in the benchmark index, often regarded as a bellwether of the U.S. economy, helps attract a deeper pool of investors, as several funds track the S&P 500 and include the stock in their holdings.
Last month, BofA analysts had written in a note that demand across the company’s products and asset classes was “robust,” with crypto expansion now a key focus area for Interactive Brokers. The stock has gained over 41% this year.
Monday’s announcement marks another snub for the trading platform Robinhood, which, with a market valuation of nearly $96 billion, remains one of the largest companies not to be part of the index. Robinhood stock slipped 0.7% in premarket trading.
Retail sentiment on Stocktwits about Robinhood was in the ‘bearish’ territory at the time of writing, while traders were ‘extremely bullish’ about Interactive Brokers.
“At least the S&P pumpers will shut up. It’s not getting in before the end of the year,” one user wrote.
While another trader viewed the positive side, as the announcement came at the end of August, rather than the end of the third quarter, which could signal the likes of Robinhood, AppLovin could still be included in the index at any time before the end of the year.
Robinhood stock has more than doubled this year amid a rally in cryptocurrency prices, driven by favorable regulatory changes in the U.S. Robinhood’s core businesses are growing at a rapid pace, enabling the company to more than double its second-quarter profit to $386 million.
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