Russell Index Rebalancing Brings Meme Stocks Into the Mainstream
GameStop and other volatile names may be included when the new lineups are announced on June 25.
Later this month, FTSE Russell, the global index provider, will rebalance its family of U.S. stock indexes, which serve as benchmarks for about $10.6 trillion in assets. The reshuffling opens the door to the slew of meme stocks that Reddit traders have driven skyward. The can of memes is open.
In general, stocks that had a market value greater than the 1,000th-ranked company—about $5.2 billion as of the May 7 cutoff—will be added to the large-cap Russell 1000 Index. According to Goldman Sachs Group Inc., there probably will be 57 new entrants. Among them are likely to be hot unicorns that went public in the recent SPAC frenzy, such as QuantumScape Corp., an EV battery maker. Reddit sensation GameStop Corp. will probably enter the list, though AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc., which had a $4.3 billion market value on May 7, may not.