Alphabet's stock is set to join the Dow, pivoting index's industrial roots toward tech

By Claudia Assis and Joy Wiltermuth

As Alphabet rolls out more data centers - and borrowing money to do it - it can be argued that it is becoming more of an industrial company, says strategist

Google parent Alphabet is going to replace Verizon in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Alphabet will replace Verizon Communications in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, index provider S&P Dow Jones Indices said late Tuesday, tilting the historic U.S. equity benchmark deeper toward the technology sector. It will no longer will have a component representing telecoms.

S&P Dow Jones Indices hailed the Google parent's (GOOG) (GOOGL) technology portfolio, and said that adding the company to the Dow DJIA "will broaden and strengthen" the index's exposure to "dynamic" sectors of the U.S. economy. "Its larger market capitalization and share price, together with the breadth of its businesses, make it a more representative communication services constituent in the DJIA," the provider said.