LaCroix In, Books Out as National Beverage Jumps on S&P 600 Nod

(Bloomberg) -- With national bookseller Barnes & Noble Inc. set to go private this month, the index makers at S&P Global had a spot to fill in their SmallCap 600 Index.

The lucky entrant? National Beverage Corp., the maker of LaCroix flavored sparkling water. The company (ticker: FIZZ) jumped as much as 9.2% Friday, the most since November 2017, on the planned S&P index inclusion, set to become effective before the open Aug. 7.

Membership in the small-cap index may bring in new investors after a rough stretch for the $2.1 billion soft-drink company, which has lost more than half of its market over the past 12 months amid increasing competition in the seltzer aisle and declining revenue.

Shares of National Beverage, whose other brands include Shasta and Faygo, are still up more than 100% from where they were in late 2014.

Read more: LaCroix Maker’s Drop Erases $2.7 Billion of Founder’s Wealth

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