SpaceX is joining the Nasdaq-100 index: Timeline, date, impact on QQQ, 401(k) plans, and more
It has hardly been two weeks since Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (Nasdaq: SPCX), better known as Space X, went public, but the Elon Musk-led company is already poised to achieve another significant stock market milestone. Next month, it will be added to the Nasdaq 100. Here’s what that means for the company—and for you. What’s happened? On June 26, just 15 days after Space X made its stock market debut on June 12, Nasdaq announced that the space and AI company will be added to the institution’s closely watched Nasdaq-100 Index. And that 15-day timing? It’s fast, but it’s not exactly a surprise. In May, Nasdaq changed its rules for inclusion in the Nasdaq-100. Previously, a newly public company would take months or more before joining. But under the new rules, the inclusion window was reduced to just 15 days from its IPO if the company ranks among the top 40 Nasdaq-100 companies by market cap. While Nasdaq never specifically mentioned SpaceX when announcing its new Nasdaq-100 timeline rules, many in the investing sphere feel the company did so to court Elon Musk and get him to list SpaceX’s shares on Nasdaq rather than the rival New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). What is the Nasdaq-100? The Nasdaq-100 is an index of “100 fundamentally sound and innovative” companies that are traded on the Nasdaq, according to the stock exchange itself. These companies cover a range of industries, including tech, healthcare, utilities, and consumer goods. But one notable exclusion is financial services firms, as these companies don’t fit under the “innovative” banner. Nasdaq periodically adds companies to the Nasdaq-100, the most recent was Sandisk Corporation (Nasdaq: SNDK), which joined the index on April 20 under the old rules. But when one company joins, another must leave, because the Nasdaq-100 is limited to 100 companies. When Sandisk joined, Atlassian Corporation (Nasdaq: TEAM) was ejected from the Nasdaq-100. Given that the Nasdaq-100 focuses on innovative compa