"Grand Theft Auto" maker's stock to join Nasdaq 100, sending shares higher

Investing.com -- Take-Two Interactive (NASDAQ:TTWO) shares jumped in U.S. premarket trading on Wednesday after Nasdaq said the video game maker's stock would replace cancer drugmaker Seagen on its tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 index.

In a statement released on Tuesday, Nasdaq noted that the change was "a result" of Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) announcing that it plans to close its $43 billion acquisition of Seagen later this week. The switch will take effect on Dec. 18, Nasdaq added.

Shares in Seagen (NASDAQ:SGEN) were little changed prior to the start of trading in New York on Wednesday.

For Take-Two, its entrance on to the Nasdaq 100 comes days after its Rockstar Games unit released the much-anticipated first trailer for the latest installment in the mega-popular "Grand Theft Auto" franchise.

The teaser video for "Grand Theft Auto VI", which was viewed more than 30 million times hours after it was posted on social media by Rockstar, said the game was "coming 2025."

Analysts at Stifel have suggested that the 2025 launch window could disappoint consensus expectations for a release during the holiday season next year. However, they have still projected that the game will be available for sale late in Take-Two's 2025 fiscal period, which is due to end in March of that year.

"GTA VI" is expected to rake in huge returns for Take-Two, with several analysts quoted by Reuters predicting that the title could generate sales in the billions of dollars each year.