S&P to remove Harley-Davidson from 500 Index

The US stock market may be rallying, but unfortunately, Harley-Davidson (HOG) may not be reaping the benefits. The Milwaukee-based motorcycle company will be removed from the S&P 500 list effective June 22, 2020.

The S&P 500 measures the stock performance of 500 large companies publicly listed on the US stock exchanges. Being included in the list is a matter of prestige as it is a capitalization-weighted index. Harley-Davidson currently has a market cap of US$3.89 billion, which is under the US$8.2 billion required for a brand to be included on the index. Harley will be moved to S&P’s MidCap 400.

Unfortunately, being removed from this list may deal a blow to the company that has already been struggling financially, exacerbated by the current pandemic that has hurt sales. The move comes just a month after Harley tweaked its plans to return to profitability, adjusting from a bold strategy of entering new segments to a more measured approach and scaling back some new models.

Experts attribute Harley-Davidson’s removal to the company’s struggling stock price and its subsequent drop in market capitalization because of that struggle.

This may also hurt Harley’s chances of securing some funding to reorganize. Certain investment funds can only invest in S&P 500 companies, usually as a means of managing risk. As such, it puts Harley out of the radar of some much needed capital.

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