FILE PHOTO: Representation of the bitcoin cryptocurrency and a price chart are seen in this illustration taken October 24, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
(Reuters) -MicroStrategy will be added to the tech-heavy Nasdaq-100 Index, the exchange operator said on Friday, following a meteoric surge in the shares of the bitcoin buyer.
The change comes into effect before the market opens on Dec. 23, Nasdaq said.
Inclusion in the index typically boosts the stock's price, as exchange-traded funds looking to replicate the index's performance buy shares of the newly included firm.
Data analytics firm Palantir Technologies and Taser maker Axon Enterprise were added to the Nasdaq-100 Index along with MicroStrategy. Gene-sequencing equipment maker Illumina, AI server maker Super Micro Computer and vaccine maker Moderna were removed, Nasdaq said.
MicroStrategy, an aggressive investor in the world's largest crypto asset, has seen its shares soar more than six-fold this year, taking its market value to almost $94 billion.
The company began buying and holding bitcoin in 2020 as revenue from its software business waned. It is now the largest corporate holder of the cryptocurrency.
Analysts have said MicroStrategy's decision to purchase bitcoin to protect the value of its reserve assets has enhanced the appeal of its stock, which tends to align with the performance of the cryptocurrency.
Bernstein analysts expect the market will likely set its sights on S&P 500 inclusion for MicroStrategy in 2025 following the Nasdaq-100 inclusion.
The brokerage also sees the company's prospects continuing to improve next year, adding it expects "more visibility and recognition beyond fresh ETF inflows," as a result of the Nasdaq-100 inclusion.
Bitcoin has rallied in recent weeks as U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's victory heightened the crypto sector's hopes for easing regulatory roadblocks. Earlier this month, the digital asset catapulted above $100,000 for the first time.
"Management has shown no signs of slowing this (bitcoin-buying) down and are comfortable buying bitcoin in the $95K-$100K range," Bernstein analysts said.
The company held roughly 423,650 bitcoins bought for about $25.6 billion based on the average purchase price as of Dec. 8. The investment is worth around $42.43 billion, based on bitcoin's previous close, according to Reuters calculations.
(Reporting by Manya Saini and Rishabh Jaiswal in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai, Sam Holmes and William Mallard)
