How Many Companies Have Ever Been in the S&P 500 Index? Discover the 5 Longest-Tenured Stocks in 2023

When it comes to the major U.S. stock indexes, the S&P 500 index is widely regarded as a barometer of the overall stock market’s performance. Seen as an indicator of how large corporations are performing, it consists of the top 500 companies in the US stock market. But how many companies have ever been a component of the index, and which 5 stocks have been there the longest?

The S&P 500 index is updated periodically to reflect the top 500 companies in the US stock market. As of 2014, about 186 changes have been made to the composition of the index since its creation in 1957, so over 686 companies have ever made it to the S&P 500 index over the years. Five of the longest-lasting stocks in the index include AT&T, General Electric, ExxonMobil, Coca-Cola, and Procter & Gamble.

In this article, we will be talking about the S&P 500, its history, the companies in it, and the ones that have been there the longest. We will discuss the topic under the following subheadings:

What is the S&P 500 Index?

The S&P 500 index is a US stock market index that represents the 500 largest companies in the US stock market. Also known as the Standard & Poor’s 500, the index is a registered trademark of the joint venture S&P Dow Jones Indices. It comprises 504 common stocks which are issued by 500 large-cap companies traded on American stock exchanges, which includes the 30 components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Representing about 80 percent of the American equity market by capitalization, the S&P 500 index is generally considered the best indicator of how U.S. stocks are performing overall. So, it is not only a statistical measure of the performance of America’s 500 largest stocks, but also, it is generally seen as a common benchmark against which portfolio performance can be evaluated.

The index is weighted by free-float market capitalization (share price times the number of shares outstanding), so more valuable companies account for relatively more weight in the index. In other words, each listed company doesn’t simply represent 1/500th of the index. Rather, a company’s valuation determines how much influence it has over the index’s performance. So, massive companies such as Apple, Microsoft, and Amazon have a greater impact on the S&P 500 index than relatively smaller companies like Macy’s (NYSE: M) and Harley-Davidson (NYSE: HOG).

The index constituents and the constituent weights are updated regularly using rules published by S&P Dow Jones Indices. Although called the S&P 500, the index contains 504 stocks because it includes two share classes of stock from 4 of its component companies.

The history Of the S&P 500 Index

The S&P 500 index was first compiled in the late 1950s as the most popular benchmark for measuring how large-cap companies are performing in the United States. In fact, it was created on March 4, 1957, to replace its predecessor, a 90-stock composite price index that was created by Standard Statistics in 1926. Comprising the stocks of 500 leading U.S. companies, the newly introduced S&P 500 index had a total market capitalization of $172 billion at the time it was created, tracking the performance of 425 industrial, 15 rail, and 60 utility stocks.

In 1958, the index S&P 500 ended the year up 38.06 percent, which was its best year in terms of percentage gain, and by June 4, 1968, it closed above 100 for the first time. From 1969 to 1981, the index gradually declined, as the U.S. economy endured stagnant growth and high inflation.

During the 2008 financial crisis and the Great Recession, the S&P 500 index fell 46.13% between October 2007 to March 2009, but by March 2013, it had recovered all of its losses. The coronavirus pandemic in 2020 sent the world into a recession and equity markets reeling as the S&P 500 plummeted nearly 20%. However, from the second half of 2020, the S&P bounced back, with the great performance of the tech and communication sector, and reached many all-time highs in 2021.

From the time of its creation to date, the index is continually being updated with new additions each year that meets its requirements for earnings, market value, and liquidity while removing others that do not meet the requirements, or that are eliminated by corporate changes or mergers.

Some of the first companies added at the creation of the S&P 500 Index

When the 50th anniversary of the index was celebrated in 2007, the company behind the index, S&P Dow Jones Indices, put out a press release with a list of the 86 companies that were on the original list that were still on the list in 2007 — though the names may have been a little different. Here are a few of the more recognizable names on the list:

  1. 3M Co
  2. Merck & Co
  3. Abbott Laboratories
  4. Allegheny Energy Inc
  5. Exxon Mobil Corp
  6. Ford Motor Co
  7. PepsiCo Inc
  8. General Dynamics Corp
  9. Pfizer Inc
  10. Boeing Co
  11. General Electric Co
  12. Burlington Northern
  13. General Motors Corp
  14. Pitney Bowes Inc
  15. Campbell Soup Co
  16. Goodyear Tire<