SpaceX must wait a year to enter the S&P 500

S&P Dow Jones Indices decided to keep the eligibility criteria for the S&P 500 unchanged, frustrating the expectations of investors who were waiting for a relaxation of the rules to accelerate the entry of large newly listed companies, such as SpaceX.

With the decision, companies that carry out an IPO will continue to be subject to a minimum period of 12 months before being considered for inclusion in the index, in addition to having to comply with current profitability criteria.

The measure, announced on Thursday (4) after a public consultation on the treatment of mega-capitalization companies, also applies to S&P's mid- and small-cap indices.

At the beginning of the year, the index provider considered reducing the waiting period for large companies to six months and exempting them from the financial viability requirement, which requires profit under GAAP accounting standards.

In a statement, S&P stated that it will not make changes to profitability filters, the minimum listing period or the minimum investable weight factor (IWF). Therefore, it will continue to require profit in the most recent quarter and positive results accumulated in the previous 12 months for inclusion in the S&P 500.

The discussion generated controversy in the market, with criticism that the flexibility would excessively benefit large, newly listed companies, such as SpaceX, Anthropic and OpenAI.

S&P concluded that exceptions should not be granted solely based on the companies' market value. SpaceX was not profitable under GAAP criteria in 2025.

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Source: CNN