Despite it remaining a telecommunications giant, AT&T will be losing its long-held place on the Dow Jones industrial average to Apple as of March 19, as the New York Times is reporting. Following last year's stock split, Apple's stock price is now at $128, up since the Dow announcement and just shy of its all-time high, which it hit last week, of $133. (The seven-for-one stock split last June brought the share price down from almost $700 to under $100.)
The move to add Apple to the Dow has been long expected on Wall Street, and Apple is currently the world's most valuable company, with a market capitalization of $744 billion.
Still, it's a significant milestone for the 119-year-old index, given that AT&T has had a place on it for almost 100 of those years, since 1916. Lately, AT&T has been the Dow's most under-performing stock, now priced at $33.50.
The Dow was the brainchild of a Wall Street Journal editor named Charles Dow, and consists of just 30 stocks that best represent the totality of the US economy. It dates back to 1885.
As David Blitzer, managing director and chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices, said in a statement, "As the largest corporation in the world and a leader in technology, Apple is the clear choice for the Dow Jones industrial average."
In further Apple news, as noted last week, the company is hosting its next unveiling event on Monday, March 9, at which point CEO Tim Cook will be officially lifting the curtain on their next big product, the Apple Watch. The smartwatch is expected to ship to stores next month.
