AppLovin and Robinhood to Join S&P 500, Stocks Jump on Inclusion News

Prime Highlights:

AppLovin and Robinhood will officially join the S&P 500 index before trading starts on September 22.
Shares of both companies jumped around 7% in after-hours trading following the announcement.

Key Facts:

AppLovin will replace MarketAxess, and Robinhood will take the place of Caesars Entertainment in the S&P 500.
Inclusion in the S&P 500 often leads to increased stock demand as fund managers buy shares to match the index.

Key Background:

AppLovin and Robinhood Markets will join the S&P 500 index, starting before trading on September 22, S&P Global said. This is an important milestone for both companies, showing their growth and position in the U.S. stock market.

After the announcement, shares of AppLovin, a top ad technology company, and Robinhood, a well-known stock trading app, rose about 7% in after-hours trading. AppLovin will replace MarketAxess Holdings in the index, while Robinhood will take the spot previously held by Caesars Entertainment.

Earlier this year, Datadog and DoorDash joined the S&P 500, showing the index is focusing more on big tech companies. Stocks usually go up when added to the S&P 500 because fund managers buy them to match the index.

AppLovin, which went public in 2021, has done very well in the market. The company makes software that shows ads in mobile apps and games. AppLovin’s stock rose 278% in 2023, more than 700% in 2024, and has increased 51% so far in 2025.

Robinhood, also a 2021 Nasdaq debutant, has attracted strong interest from retail investors, particularly in the meme stock segment, including AMC Entertainment and GameStop. At the company’s annual meeting in June, CEO Vlad Tenev said Robinhood meets the requirements to join the S&P 500 and added that it was something the company hoped would happen.

Meanwhile, the shares of MarketAxess, a firm that deals with fixed-income derivatives, have fallen 17% in the present year, and Caesars Entertainment shares have declined 21%. To investors and market observers, the inclusion of AppLovin and Robinhood in the S&P 500 doesn’t only mean that their presence in the market is acknowledged, but also that they are in a position to expand as an institutional and index-driven purchasing force, which positively influences their stock prices.