"The center of gravity of Israeli stocks has shifted from New York to Tel Aviv." That is the conclusion reached by the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange on the basis of an analysis by economist Yuval Zuk of the exchange’s research unit. Zuk compared the ten largest Israeli public companies by market cap traded around the world at two dates: February 2021, and now. He found that, this year, seven of the ten are traded in Tel Aviv (including two dual-listed stocks), whereas in 2021 the situation was the reverse: only three of the ten largest companies were traded in Tel Aviv, two of them being dual-listed.
In 2021, the peak year for technology companies on Wall Street, most of the largest Israeli companies were in various technology sectors. Today the group contains four banks, alongside three technology companies. Top of the list is Bank Leumi, with a market cap close to NIS 100 billion ($29 billion).
Over the years, "Globes" has often examined which are the largest Israeli companies. During the period of the technology hype, the list contained companies such as Wix, Fiverr, Lemonade, Playtika, Novocure, and ironSource, most of which are now a long way from the prices at which they were traded then, while ironSource has been sold. It should be mentioned that, according to examinations by "Globes" in the past, even when the Nasdaq index was at a peak, half of the ten largest companies were traded in Tel Aviv, the largest of them at the time being Nice, which is dual-listed.
"In 2020-2021, many companies ran to Wall Street, even if they weren’t profitable. It was like a great party that ended with a hangover," is how Ron Klein, head of the Listings and Economic Department at the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, describes it. "Today, we are seeing a sobering up. Dream companies such as Fiverr and Solaredge fell heavily, and investors are looking to companies with stable businesses and profits, such as the banks and Azrieli Group. It’s not an Israeli story. All over the world, investors have turned from dream stocks to companies with strong balance sheets and stability. This has led to the fact that, today, most of the big Israeli companies are on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange."
Klein is of course happy with the trend, which he says has made the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange the home for Israeli companies. But beyond that, the exchange itself gains from the change. Larger companies mean higher trading volumes and more movement on the market, which directly swells the revenue of the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.
Actually, the fact that during the peak period companies skipped the local stock market and went straight to Wall Street saved the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. Had these companies been floated in Tel Aviv, they would be suffering from a hangover here too.
"Perhaps that saved investors in ETFs. It’s important to realize that there was a wave unconnected to Israel, consisting of very cheap money, low interest rates, and a supportive macro environment, that led investors to a certain place that did not reflect long-term value. Many companies fell steeply, and many have since recovered, but by emphasizing profitability and value creation."
Klein says that the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange has undergone a process of globalization in the past few years, leading to greater interest in it on the part of foreign investors, and a substantial rise in average daily turnover (from NIS 1.8 billion in August 2021 to NIS 4.1 billion in August this year). To this should be added two forthcoming changes: the exchange will work from Monday to Friday instead of Sunday to Thursday, and all reports by companies on the Tel Aviv 125 list will be translated into English, making them accessible to foreign investors. "The fact that seven of the ten largest Israeli companies are traded in Tel Aviv is not happenstance," Kelin says. He believes that Israeli companies now traded solely on Wall Street will decide to list on the local exchange.
"Without mentioning names, market players both foreign and local are hearing from the companies that they are more open to the idea," he says. For many years, the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange has tried to attract major Israeli companies such as Check Point and Wix , so far without much success, but Klein says, "In the past, the local arena was considered secondary, but today the added value is clear. The market is more accessible and liquid, and trading volumes have grown. Just as privately-held companies see this and hold IPOs on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, Israeli companies traded on Wall Street also see it." Such companies would gain inclusion in the leading indices, where, as Klein points out, the market caps of the companies comprising the list have risen considerably. In the past, a market cap of NIS 1 billion was enough to be included in the Tel Aviv 125 list; now, it is close to NIS 3 billion.
Yotav Costica, CEO and investment manager at More Mutual Funds, believes that the credit mainly belongs to the companies themselves and to the Israeli economy. "I think that the change is emblematic of the growth of the Israeli economy in the past few years and the accelerated expansion of companies in the financial sector in the main - banks and insurance companies," he says. "Israel is still a small market by global standards, but there has been a quantum leap in the past few years, and the companies have carried out a lot of internal processes of streamlining and stabilization. The banks generate return on equity, and that finds expression in higher market caps. In addition, for many years, bank and insurance company stocks were traded at deep discounts , and in the past eighteen months Israeli investors have come into line with pricing around the world."
Costica says that there is a great deal of money in the local market. "Foreign investors come and go; the change is mostly on the part of the Israelis," he says. "There’s a huge quantity of money, because of high long-term savings, and economic growth. People have more money; you can see that in the public’s financial assets, which have grown a lot, and in the end the savers are often looking for Israeli investments."
What can be learned from the figures about the future? "Companies see great value in their presence in the home market," says Klein. "It’s clear too that the stock exchange reflects the Israeli economy and any positive geopolitical process will inevitably be reflected in the markets. I believe that there will be more companies that will realize the added value of the home market, because the Israeli capital market is not what it was five to ten years ago, on every parameter. It would be worth reexamining any decision on the matter made years ago."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on October 22, 2025.
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