Autodesk (
ADSK) and seven other firms will be added to the roster of the NASDAQ-100 Index, effective December 20, 2004.
The NASDAQ-100 Index is composed of the 100 largest non-financial stocks on the NASDAQ Stock Market. It was created in 1985—along with another index for financial stocks—to act as market benchmarks for such financial products as options, futures, and funds. The NASDAQ-100 is re-ranked each year in December.
Autodesk is the only pure software developer joining the list this year, although most of the new members are technology oriented companies. The other firms are: XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. (XMSR), Liberty Media International, Inc. (LBTYA), NTL Incorporated (NTLI), MCI, Inc. (MCIP), Wynn Resorts, Limited (WYNN), LM Ericsson Telephone Company (ERICY), and Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. (SIRI).
The market capitalization listed for Autodesk in the announcement is $6.1 billion.
"The NASDAQ-100 Index is a transparent and objective index whose members are ultimately decided by investors and not by a committee," said John L. Jacobs, chief executive officer of Nasdaq Financial Products Services, Inc. “This re-ranking will ensure that one of the world's most widely followed barometers of market activity will continue to be comprised of companies that represent a diverse range of industries."
On a cumulative basis, the NASDAQ-100 Index has risen over 1157% since it was launched, and it has outperformed several major domestic and international stock indices for the ten-year period ended November 30, 2004 (although, as they say in financial reporting, past performance is not indicative of future performance). For the most recent one and five-year periods ended November 30, 2004, the Index cumulative return was 10% and 47% respectively.
The NASDAQ-100 can be traded as a single entity, listed on the NASDAQ as QQQQ. It is an example of an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that trades like a stock.
Removed from the index were: Cephalon, Inc. (CEPH), Compuware Corporation (CPWR), First Health Group Corp. (FHCC), Gentex Corporation (GNTX), Henry Schein, Inc. (HSIC), NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA), Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (PTEN) and, Ryanair Holdings plc (RYAAY).
Other pure software developers on the NASDAQ-100 include Adobe Systems, Microsoft, PeopleSoft, Oracle, and Siebel Systems.