NASDAQ-100 to Exclude Several China Concept Stocks

News Analysis

Chinese internet companies Baidu (BIDU) and NetEase (NTES) will be removed from the NASDAQ-100 Index (NDX) before the opening bell on Dec. 19, along with five other companies.

The NASDAQ-100 Index includes the top 100 non-financial companies listed on the Nasdaq stock market. The index is reconstituted each year in December, removing companies that no longer meet the criteria and adding new companies as part of its annual reshuffling.

This year, VeriSign (VRSN), Splunk (SPLK), Baidu, Match Group (MTCH), DocuSign (DOCU), NetEase (NTES), and SWKS stock will drop off.

In its NASDAQ debut in August 2005, Baidu shares rose by more than 354 percent in one day from its IPO price of $27 per share. Then in December 2007, Baidu became the first Chinese company to be included in the NASDAQ-100 index.

NetEase was listed on Nasdaq in 2000 and included in the NASDAQ-100 index in 2016.

Apple stock, Microsoft (MSFT), Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL), Amazon.com (AMZN), Nvidia, and Tesla stock are currently the top-performing companies on the Nasdaq 100.

Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act

Ou Kai, a political commentator living in Japan, told The Epoch Times on Dec. 14 that the removal of Baidu and NetEase is not as simple as U.S. regulators targeting a particular Chinese company.

“After the United States passed the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, all Chinese capital stock companies suffered fatal blows,” he said.

On March 10, the SEC released a list of five Chinese companies, including Billion China, deemed at risk of delisting, triggering a sell-off of Chinese stocks. The following day, Baidu’s share price fell 12.02 percent, and Jingdong’s (JD) fell 8.63 percent.

“Before the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act became effective in January 2022, many Chinese stocks announced their intention to return to the Hong Kong stock market. The Foreign Companies Accountability Act requires companies to disclose detailed accounting information, which is not allowed under the Chinese Communist Party’s Accounting Law,” Ou Kai explained.

The Foreign Company Accountability Act also requires companies to explain their relationship with their government, which means the Chinese companies must declare their relationship with the Chinese Communist Party.

“All these requirements have put the Chinese companies in a difficult position, so they have to exit in an orderly manner as the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act was gradually implemented,” Ou Kai added.

After excluding Baidu and NetEase, China’s e-commerce platforms JD.com and Pinduoduo (PDD) are the only remaining China Concept Stocks with the NASDAQ-100 Index. JD.com was included in 2015, and PDD was added in 2020.

Kathleen Li has contributed to The Epoch Times since 2009 and focuses on China-related topics. She is an engineer, chartered in civil and structural engineering in Australia.

Ellen Wan has worked for the Japanese edition of The Epoch Times since 2007.