Domino’s Pizza to join S&P 500, despite pandemic’s impact

(Reuters) – Domino’s Pizza Inc will join the Standard & Poor’s 500 <.SPX>, despite having last month withdrawn its long-term growth outlook after closing stores because of the coronavirus pandemic.

S&P Dow Jones Indices said on Wednesday it is promoting the Ann Arbor, Michigan-based pizza delivery chain from its S&P MidCap 400, one of several changes it announced to its indexes.

While withdrawing its forecast for two- to three-year sales growth, Domino’s said U.S. same-store sales were up 7.1% in late March and much of April, as diners under lockdown ordered home delivery more often.

Domino’s kept company-owned U.S. stores open but said about 1,750 international stores were temporarily closed.

Shares of companies joining the S&P 500 often rise because many large investors track the index and must buy shares of new entrants. Domino’s is replacing apparel maker Capri Holdings Ltd in the S&P 500.

DexCom Inc , which designs glucose monitoring systems, is also joining the index. It replaces Allergan Plc , which is being acquired by another S&P 500 pharmaceutical company, AbbVie Inc .

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)