HOOD Misses Out on Joining the S&P 500: What This Means for Investors

Contrary to widespread expectations, Robinhood Markets HOOD did not make it to the coveted S&P 500 list. On Friday, S&P Dow Jones Indices announced no changes to the S&P 500 during its quarterly rebalance, dashing investors' hopes.

Hence, HOOD stock tumbled almost 8% during intra-day trading yesterday, before closing 2% down from Friday. This snapped the six-day winning streak during which shares touched all-time highs for four consecutive sessions and gained 17%. 

Despite yesterday’s blip, Robinhood shares have surged 97% this year. This has been driven by the expansion of its product suite, acquisitions and favorable developments in the cryptocurrency space.

While Robinhood’s market cap of $66 billion is way above the S&P 500’s $20.5 billion eligibility threshold, the committee overseeing the index weighs several other factors, including governance, liquidity and market representation. 

Inclusion in the S&P 500 is significant, as it often leads to increased demand from index funds and passive investors who aim to replicate the index's performance. This heightened demand can boost a company's stock price and liquidity. For Robinhood, the inclusion could have validated its growth trajectory and enhanced its visibility and credibility in the financial markets. 

HOOD’s potential inclusion gained traction as  its close competitor, Coinbase Global COIN, joined the S&P 500 Index in May. Coinbase became the first crypto-linked company to get added to the benchmark index, signaling a widespread acceptance of digital assets. Since the announcement of its inclusion in the index on May 12, Coinbase’s shares have soared 23.8%.

Another HOOD competitor, which was a likely contender for inclusion in the S&P 500 index, was the global electronic broker, Interactive Brokers IBKR. Following the announcement of no change in the index members, shares of Interactive Brokers tanked 3.4% on Monday. With a market cap of approximately $86 billion, Interactive Brokers has been witnessing solid improvement in profitability as retail market participation continues to rise.

Robinhood’s Valuation and Estimate Analysis

Given the solid price performance, HOOD shares are currently trading at a massive premium to the industry. The company has a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) of 55.04X compared with the industry average of 13.80X.

Moreover, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for Robinhood’s 2025 and 2026 earnings implies growth of 11.9% and 20.5%, respectively, on a year-over-year. In the past month, earnings estimates for 2025 has remained unchanged, while for 2026, it has moved marginally upward.

HOOD currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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