The Dow Jones Industrial Average could get a boost after online giant Amazon joins its ranks. Since 1896, the blue-chip index has made few changes to its lineup of 30 stocks, having changed its constituents about 60 times in its roughly 128-year history. But a series of changes are coming next Monday. Dow adds Amazon, removes Walgreens Boots Alliance. Meanwhile, Walmart is getting a 3-for-1 stock split on the same day. The changes are expected to support the price-weighted index. Amazon, which trades at around $170 a share, will be the 17th most weighted stock in the index. Walgreens Boots Alliance, which traded at about $22 a share, had the smallest weight in the benchmark. With the change, S&P Dow Jones Indices senior analyst Howard Silverblatt said the Dow could rise as high as 42,865. That’s about 11% higher than Tuesday’s close. “When you make a change, it’s material,” Silverblatt said. .DJI YTD mountain Dow Industrials in 2024. The effect on incoming and outgoing members of the Dow is less clear. According to past data from Ned Davis Research, stocks leaving the Dow have historically outperformed incoming members. Since 1972, departing members have averaged a 12-month gain of nearly 17.5%, while new members have averaged a 10% gain in their first year. But Silverblatt said the impact for both incoming and outgoing stocks is less significant given that few institutional investors are indexed to the Dow, compared to the S&P 500. Silverblatt expects new issues like Amazon to gain the right to boast more than anything else from the market. inclusion and perhaps greater interest from individual stock buyers purchasing a blue-chip name. “You have a tailwind,” Silverblatt said. “But you get a lot more PR, a lot more acceptance: ‘I’m one of these now.’” Amazon shares have outperformed this year on hopes that AI will continue to boost the stock. It is up more than 10% this year. By contrast, Silverblatt expects Walgreens Boots Alliance’s removal from the Dow will further hurt the stock, which has already fallen more than 16% this year. It lost more than 2% on Wednesday.