Apple has finally been accepted to join America ’ s oldest and most prestigious stock index , the Dow Jones industrial average . The company - worth more than $ 700 billion - will replace telecom giant AT & T on the list with the switch taking effect after trading closes on Wednesday , March 18 . There are only 30 companies listed on the Dow Jones - a price-weighted average of the biggest stocks - but for a long time Apple was excluded from the pile because its stock price was too high and there was worry it would distort the balance . Apple has finally been accepted to join America ’ s oldest and most prestigious stock index , the Dow Jones industrial average . However , following Apple 's big stock split last summer , this is no longer a problem . The company increased the number of shares it had to reduce the unit price from around $ 645 to $ 91 . Currently the price rests around $ 130 . With Apple 's entry AT & T will leave the Dow Jones . David Blitzer , managing director and chairman of the index committee at S & P Dow Jones Indices , said there was no need to have two big telecom companies in the equation . Verizon , which has a bigger stock price and larger market value , is in the Dow too . It will step in to lead the sector . With Apple 's entry AT & T will leave the Dow Jones with Verizon representing the telecoms sector instead . The last big shake-up of the 119-year old Dow came in September , 2013 when Goldman Sachs , Nike and Visa knocked out Alcoa , Bank of America and Hewlett-Packard . With news of the upcoming changes , Apple 's stock rose $ 2.55 , or two per cent , to $ 128.99 in early trading on Friday . AT & T sank 46 cents , or 1.4 per cent , to $ 33.54 . Apple holds a market capitalization of about $ 736 billion , making it the largest publicly traded company in the world . AT & T , by contrast , has a market value of $ 176.5 billion .
The company will replace telecom giant AT & T on the list with the switch ##back effect after trading closes on Friday , March 18 . There are only 30 companies listed on the Dow Jones - a weighted - weighted average of the biggest stocks . For a long time Apple was excluded from the pile because its stock price was too high and there was worry it would distort the balance . However , following Apple 's stock trading last week , this is no longer a problem .