© Reuters.
By Geoffrey Smith
Investing.com — Porsche (ETR:) preferred stock edged back up toward a record high in early trade in Frankfurt on Tuesday, after market operator Deutsche Boerse said it will join the benchmark later this month.
The sports car maker has enjoyed a strong start to life as a separately listed company, despite the headwinds from the surge in energy costs at its factories and lingering problems with supply chains. It’s risen nearly 30% since being spun off by its parent company Volkswagen (ETR:) at the end of September, with investors happy to pay a premium price for a company that has enjoyed historically high profit margins.
With a market value of over 88 billion euros (€1=$1.0495), Porsche is now worth more than Mercedes Benz (ETR:) and is worth twice as much as Ferrari (NYSE:), against which it was benchmarked during the IPO process.
The change in the index will come into force on December 19th, Deutsche Boerse said. The DAX’s composition is reviewed every three months and selection is based on free float market capitalization.
Porsche will replace sportswear maker Puma (ETR:), which has had a wretched time this year due to a sudden slowdown in demand as the pandemic-era boom in athletic wear faded sharply. Puma stock is down by over 50% and to make matters worse, it recently lost its chief executive Bjørn Gulden to cross-town rival Adidas (ETR:).
As such, the rebalancing will tilt the benchmark index of Europe’s largest economy even further back toward the automotive sector. In addition to Porsche, Volkswagen and its rivals Mercedes-Benz and BMW (ETR:), the index also includes Daimler Truck Holding (ETR:), tiremaker Continental (ETR:) and Porsche Automobil Holding (ETR:), the vehicle through which the descendants of founder Ferdinand Porsche control both the sports car maker and its parent.
The next review of the DAX is scheduled to take place on March 3, Deutsche Boerse said.
By 03:40 ET (08:40 GMT), Porsche stock was up 1.1%, while Puma stock was up 1.0%.
