Apple Inc, the largest US company by market value, is set to join the Dow Jones industrial average, replacing AT&T Inc, in a change that reflects Apple’s dominant position in the US consumer economy.
The decision to nudge aside AT&T, which has been part of the Dow for the better part of a century, is a recognition of how communications and technology have evolved. It is also a marker of Apple’s transformation — from a struggling company with a small, fervent following two decades ago — into the US’ predominant consumer tech company.
“This is a sign of the times, and it might get everyone to look at the Dow more than they have been,” said Philadelphia Trust Co chief investment officer Richard Sichel, who oversees investments worth US$2 billion. “It would be difficult to pick any 30 companies that would cover the entire economy, especially compared with the S&P 500, but it does give the Dow more credibility.”
The action, by S&P Dow Jones Indices, had been widely expected since Apple split its shares seven-for-one in June last year.
AT&T declined to comment on its removal from the average, of which it has been a member for most of the past 100 years. The stock was added to the Dow in 1916, the year after the first-ever transcontinental telephone call. It was removed in 2004, but after SBC Communications renamed itself AT&T following a 2005 merger, it was reinstated.
“It was a new way of life; telephones, back then 100 years ago, these talking machines,” S&P Dow Jones Indices analyst Howard Silverblatt said. “Back then, AT&T was it, end of story.”
The Dow Jones industrials is the oldest US stock average, first published in 1896. Its compact size — just 30 companies — and its mission to reflect the US economy means that many retail investors are more familiar with it than other indices covering a broader cross-section of the market.
Even though professional managers generally benchmark against the S&P 500, additions and removals from the Dow are still a big event on Wall Street. It was last altered in September 2013 when Goldman Sachs Group Inc, Visa Inc and Nike Inc were added.
Apple did not respond to requests for comment. The company has a market capitalization of US$737 billion, making it twice the size of the second-largest Dow component, Exxon Mobil Corp.
Despite Apple’s size, at Thursday’s close of trading it would only have a 4.66 percent weighting in the Dow because of its price, the index company said. Apple is set to join the average after the close of trading on March 18.
Apple shares rose 0.15 percent to US$126.60 on Friday, while those of AT&T fell 1.5 percent to US$33.48.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last