Investors who steered clear of SpaceX-related stocks in hopes of beating the market have not gained an advantage, according to a Wall Street Journal report published Tuesday. The analysis found that ditching the rocket company did not help portfolio performance.
WSJ reports that the timing of SpaceX’s potential public listing has become a central topic among investors. The company remains private, and its exclusion from major stock indexes has drawn attention to how index rules affect passive fund holders.
The S&P 500 index committee has declined to include SpaceX in the benchmark, according to The Eastern Herald. That decision carries weight for retail investors who track the index through exchange-traded funds or mutual funds. Because SpaceX is not part of the S&P 500, passive investors cannot gain direct exposure to the company through those vehicles.
The Eastern Herald also noted that the committee’s stance poses a hurdle for any future SpaceX IPO. If the company does go public, index eligibility rules could still keep it out of the S&P 500 for some time, depending on factors like profitability and market capitalization requirements.
Other outlets, including EPS Guidance Update and Revenue Inflection Point, have echoed similar concerns about what the exclusion means for everyday investors. The core issue is that passive strategies, which dominate modern investing, simply cannot buy what is not in the index.
WSJ’s broader point is that trying to outmaneuver the market by avoiding a single high-profile private company has not paid off. The lesson, the report suggests, is that timing and index membership matter more than individual stock picks.
What to watch next: whether SpaceX eventually files for an IPO and how index committees respond if it does.
