How SpaceX benefits as Nasdaq eases its index inclusion rules | What changed and how it impacts the investors

SpaceX will be included to the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 index on July 7, exchange operator Nasdaq confirmed on Friday. The move is significant as companies do not become eligible for inclusion in a major stock index immediately after listing, rather it has to wait for months or even years before meeting such criteria. Nasdaq, however, recently amended its eligibility rules to allow comanies like SpaceX to enter the benchmark much sooner than the usual timeline.

Here's a look at how Nasdaq changed its rules, whether other stock exchanges could follow suit, and what the move could mean for investors.

How did Nasdaq change its index inclusion rules?

Index providers have rules to determine when a company can be added and how large its position will be. For example, as per Nasdaq's old rules, a new stock had to season for at least 3 months and the company needed to have at least 10% of its shares available for public trading to qualify. But, the index provider recently changed its index inclusion rules, effective May 1, 2026, along with the weighting methodology for companies across its indices.

• Nasdaq will now look at the company's total value, including both listed and unlisted shares.
• It has also reduced the waiting period for new companies. A stock can now join the index after just 15 trading days.

This allowed SpaceX to be added to the Nasdaq-100 much faster.

What will be the impact?

Due the inclusion of SpaceX into Nasdaq 100, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and mutual funds, including Indian fund houses, that track the index will automatically buy the shares. This surge in passive buying typically boosts demand for the stock, which can support or even push its share price higher.

J.P. Morgan estimated that SpaceX's inclusion in the Nasdaq 100 could draw $4.3 billion in passive inflows.

"Clearly, there's a lot of demand, that's why they fast-tracked the integration into the index," Michael Field, chief equity market strategist at Morningstar, told Reuters. "A lot of people will be happy with it. Some fund managers less so, the skeptics amongst them, us included. We think the stock is overvalued."

The passive buying comes as the initial frenzy over SpaceX’s record IPO has fizzled. The stock is on a losing streak, shedding a quarter of its value after a rousing rally in the first three sessions.

Other stock exchanges to include SpaceX too?

FTSE Russell is poised to add SpaceX. to its flagship US and global benchmarks, including the Russell 1000, on Monday.

FTSE Russell recently adopted rules allowing eligible mega IPOs to enter its indexes after five trading days. But because SpaceX went public during the provider’s three-week reconstitution blackout period, it missed that fast-entry window.

Other index providers with fast-entry rules include CRSP, whose US Total Market Index added SpaceX Monday. Rival MSCI generally waits 10 trading days to admit qualifying IPOs.

S&P Global, however, refused to changed the requirements for index inclusion and SpaceX will have to wait for at least 12 months before the index provider to even considering it. To ​be included in the S&P 500, a company must be profitable in its most recent quarter as ​well as for the sum of its most recent four quarters

(With inputs from Reuters and Bloomberg)