Robinhood Markets is about to join the S&P 500 after reaching profitability and hitting a record stock price thanks to the boom in cryptocurrencies. At the same time, Caesars Entertainment is being dropped from the index.
Starting September 22, Robinhood will be added to the benchmark index along with AppLovin, a mobile technology platform, and Emcor Group, a construction company.
Responding to the news, the company’s CEO and co-founder, Vlad Tenev, wrote on X: “It’s an exciting milestone to have Robinhood join the storied S&P 500 Index. I’ll share what I told the team today — we don’t stop to celebrate, our single focus remains building exceptional products for our customers.”
It’s an exciting milestone to have Robinhood join the storied S&P 500 Index. I’ll share what I told the team today — we don’t stop to celebrate, our single focus remains building exceptional products for our customers.
— Vlad Tenev (@vladtenev) September 5, 2025
Robinhood’s S&P 500 move shows recovery after years of volatility
Robinhood is having one of its strongest years since going public in 2021, after a rough start. On its first day of trading, the stock closed below its $38 IPO price and stayed volatile for years, ending 2023 at just $12.74 a share.
Things look very different now. The stock has already tripled in 2025, trading above $100 a share, on top of a big run-up in 2024. This has happened even as the company faces lawsuits from several gaming regulators in the US, who accuse it of offering unauthorized sports betting. Despite that, Robinhood recently launched prediction markets for pro and college football right on its app.
Another big driver has been the surge of interest in cryptocurrency, supported by a more relaxed regulatory environment. The company has gained from the government’s lighter approach to crypto during President Donald Trump’s time in office. Earlier this year, the SEC even closed an investigation into whether Robinhood failed to register some crypto assets as securities and chose not to take any action.
Robinhood also has history with another market frenzy. In 2021, it was at the center of the original “meme stock” craze around GameStop and AMC. The company ended up temporarily restricting trading in those names as tensions flared between online retail investors and big institutional players.
Featured image: Robinhood / Canva
