(Pavlo Gonchar/Getty Images)

WHO LET THE DDOG IN?

Datadog is now in the S&P 500. These big stocks still aren’t.

How do you get into the S&P 500 anyway? A weighty market value helps, but it’s not the only factor that matters.

7/4/25 5:52AM

Cloud-monitoring software provider Datadog surged 15% on Thursday, following the news that it will be added to the S&P 500 Index on July 9, replacing Juniper Networks.

Datadog’s addition marks another win for the tech sector, which has steadily expanded its footprint in America’s flagship index, with companies like DoorDash, Workday, Palantir, Dell, and Super Micro Computer added in recent reshuffles.

Let me in!

With trillions of dollars invested in ETFs that track the index, getting your company into the S&P 500 is a big deal.

So, how do you join the club?

One common misconception is that it’s simply the 500 largest stocks — but the criteria that Standard and Poor’s evaluates are a little more complex. To qualify, companies must meet eligibility factors including a market cap of at least $22.7 billion, a minimum of 12 months trading on a US exchange, and specific structural, profitability, and liquidity requirements. DDOG checks all the boxes, now with a $53.6 billion market cap (after yesterday’s rise). But what are the biggest names that so far haven’t been called up?

Topping the list is AppLovin, the ad tech company that became one of Wall Street’s darlings last year, followed by bitcoin-hoarding machine MicroStrategy.

A little further down the list is Robinhood, AI play CoreWeave, Snowflake, and Roblox.

Despite trailing the broader tech sector this year, Wall Street remains bullish on Datadog’s long-term growth, particularly in the AI space. In June, Bank of America analysts named it their top software pick for the second half of 2025, citing its ability to sustain over 20% revenue growth in the years ahead.

(Disclosure: Robinhood Markets Inc. is the parent company of Sherwood Media, an independently operated media company. I own Robinhood stock as part of my compensation.)

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Stocks reached new record highs as risk-on sentiment flooded back into the markets, while oil tumbled.

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With their recent surge, Intel shares just hit their highest level since the dot-com era

Intel’s surge of nearly 60% this month has the iconic American chipmaker’s stock price approaching levels last seen during the dot-com era. Bloomberg noted that shares just touched their highest intraday level since the turn of the century:

“The stock rose as much as 1.5% to $69.55, topping a peak it hit on Jan. 24, 2020. The shares are up 90% this year, after soaring 84% in 2025. Intel is now roughly 8% from its all-time closing high of $74.88, established on Aug. 31, 2000.”

That’s just the most recent late-’90s-era throwback we’ve been seeing in tech shares lately. Oracle is currently pacing for its best week since late 1999.

What’s even more remarkable, however, is that Intel’s forward price-to-earnings ratio today dwarfs the premiums the market was putting on the stock during the nuttiness of the dot-com mania.

That reflects the fact that the recent run-up in Intel shares is, essentially, giving the chip giant credit for a massive turnaround that hasn’t actually happened yet.

One also might wonder if the fact that Intel is partially owned by the US government means it’s more attractive — and therefore worth a higher premium — than other chipmakers without the state imprimatur.

Still, kind of startling.

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Netflix shares are down more than 10% on Friday morning.

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Eli Lilly’s GLP-1 pill hit nearly 1,400 prescriptions in first week

Eli Lilly rose after preliminary numbers cited by Wall Street analysts showed strong uptake of its new weight-loss pill.

The FDA approved Foundayo on April 1 and shipments began on April 9. In its first week, roughly 1,400 US prescriptions were written for the drug, according to IQVIA data cited by Deustche Bank analysts in a Friday note.

Novo Nordisk, Lilly’s rival in the GLP-1 market, released its GLP-1 pill earlier this year, and early signs show that it’s expanding the market, inviting patients who were turned off by weekly injections. Novo’s pill had a stronger first week than Lilly’s, with its Wegovy pill hitting 3,071 US prescriptions in the first four days after its launch on January 5.

Lilly’s pill has an advantage over Novo’s, which is that it can be taken at any time of day, with or without food. Lilly disclosed in a February regulatory filing that it had $1.5 billion worth of prelaunch inventory ready ahead of the FDA approval — which is about as much as analysts polled by FactSet expect it to sell this year.

Eli Lilly makes the world’s bestselling drug. Can it keep the party going?

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Critical Metals jumps after Greenland’s government approves CRML to take majority control of the Tanbreez mining project

Critical Metals is up more than 25% in premarket trading on Friday after the critical mining company announced that it now owns 92.5% of the Tanbreez rare earth deposit following an approval from the government of Greenland.

With that latest government support, Critical Minerals added an additional 50.5% stake to its ownership, reportedly acquired from Rimbal Pty Ltd, per Bloomberg News. With access to eight heavy rare earth elements often used in consumer electronics and defense, the site is one of the world’s largest undeveloped rare earth deposits and a key source of rare earth supply outside of China, according to the company.

In Critical Metals’ press release, Chairman Tony Sage commented that the approval “removes the most significant structural overhang on the project and provides the clarity to advance Tanbreez to production with confidence,” especially as Tanbreez’s location offers a significant logistical advantage through its year-round direct shipping access, compared to rival projects.

With 92.5% of the project now vested in Critical Metals Corp., and the remainder owned by European Lithium Ltd., CRML now has full control of the project and is seeking to accelerate development there, with plans for a new international airport and a “150-tonne bulk sample program,” which is slated for June 2026.