Social networking pioneer Facebook joined the big leagues on Wednesday as the company was added to the benchmark Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, in a move that could drive up its share price as index tracking funds will now have to buy the stock.
Facebook, which went public in May 2012, replaced electronics company Teradyne on the widely quoted index. Facebook’s highly hyped share-trading debut was a disaster, however, and it took a year until the company’s shares reached their original launch price.
Wednesday’s news, which was released in an after-hours statement, sent Facebook’s shares up 4 per cent, pricing the company at $121 billion to rank as the 30th most valuable company on the S&P 500. The company posted a profit of $425 million in the most recent quarter.