S&P Rejects Fast-Track; SpaceX Barred From S&P 500
Get the Finance newsletter
Daily finance — markets, central banks, M&A, the prints that move money. Free.
- S&P Dow Jones Indices ruled there would be "no changes" to eligibility criteria for the S&P 500, S&P MidCap 400, and S&P SmallCap 600 regarding newly listed megacaps, keeping financial viability, IPO seasoning, and minimum investable weight-factor rules intact.
- SpaceX posted a $4.94 billion net loss in 2025, disqualifying it from the S&P 500, which requires positive GAAP earnings in both the latest quarter and the trailing four quarters.
- Space stocks slipped overnight with ASTS down 2%, RKLB and RDW each falling 3%, and SIDU shedding 1% as the ruling removed a potential catalyst for passive-fund buying across the sector.
- SpaceX's IPO is set to price on June 11 with trading beginning June 12, offering 555.6 million shares at $135 each for a $75 billion raise and a $1.77 trillion valuation ($1.8 trillion fully diluted).
- Alexandra Merz, CEO of L&F Investor Services, had estimated Nasdaq-100 index funds could be forced to buy $8-12 billion in SpaceX stock, FTSE Russell another $10-15 billion, and CRSP benchmarks $15-25 billion.
- Nasdaq has already modified its rules so certain megacap IPOs like SpaceX can join the Nasdaq-100 after as few as 15 trading days, and SpaceX is also eligible under FTSE Russell's newly adopted fast-entry rules.
- The S&P Total Market Index and other broad S&P benchmarks did receive approved fast-track rules allowing certain large IPOs to be added with five business days' notice — even as the flagship S&P 500 remained closed to SpaceX.
Why it matters: Retail investors had been betting a rule change could have forced $8-25 billion in index-fund buying shortly after SpaceX's $1.77 trillion IPO, potentially lifting the broader space sector. With the S&P 500 path shut, SpaceX's faster track now runs through Nasdaq-100 inclusion in as few as 15 trading days — a partial offset that still leaves the biggest pool of passive capital off the table.
Ask SkimNews
