Tesla to Join NASDAQ 100

Tesla Motors will join the Nasdaq-100 Index next week, filling the spot vacated by Oracle which is moving to the New York Stock Exchange.

The electric-car maker will be added to the gauge, which tracks the biggest companies on the Nasdaq, before the start of trading on July 15, Nasdaq OMX Group said in a statement yesterday. Oracle, which last month said it will join the NYSE, is the biggest company to jump between the competing exchanges.

Shares of Tesla, the carmaker headed by billionaire Elon Musk, have more than tripled this year as the popularity of its new Model S sedan helped the company turn its first quarterly profit. Gaining entry to benchmarks tracked by investors is attractive to public companies because it provides a guaranteed shareholder base.

“It’s a coming of age, recognition that a company has market cap and liquidity,” said Sandy Mehta, chief executive officer of Value Investment Principals Ltd. in Hong Kong. “Once the stock joins the index, you will have some buying.”

Tesla rose 2.4 percent to $124.58 at 9:36 a.m. New York time after climbing as much as 2.8 percent to $125, an intraday record. Yesterday before the announcement, the shares increased to a record close of $121.61.

General Motors rejoined the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index last month after a four-year absence prompted by its 2009 bankruptcy.

Exchange-traded funds and other products linked to the Nasdaq-100 managed about $49.4 billion at the end of last year, according to data compiled by Nasdaq.

Model S

Tesla, based in Palo Alto, California, has forecast Model S sales will reach 21,000 units this year, with deliveries to Europe and Asia beginning in the second half. The Model S, which starts at $69,900 in the U.S., is Tesla’s second vehicle after the $109,000 Roadster.

Oracle’s defection means Nasdaq will lose its fourth-biggest U.S. company, which has been listed on the nation’s second-largest exchange since its 1986 initial public offering.

For Nasdaq, Oracle’s loss is a contrast to recent additions. Texas Instruments joined from the NYSE in 2011. Last year, Facebook chose Nasdaq for its IPO and Kraft Foods defected from the NYSE.