That’s because SpaceX officially joined the Nasdaq-100 just 15 trading days after its blockbuster IPO—the fastest major index inclusion following an IPO after Nasdaq introduced a new fast-track rule earlier this year. The move forced index funds tracking the benchmark to purchase billions of dollars worth of SpaceX shares, regardless of whether portfolio managers believed the stock was attractively valued.
How Investors Ended Up Owning SpaceX
Unlike actively managed funds, index funds don’t decide whether a stock is expensive or cheap. Their job is simple: if the index changes, they change.
That’s exactly what happened with SpaceX.
JPMorgan estimates QQQ alone generated roughly $4.3 billion of buying demand, while total passive flows tied to Nasdaq-100 and related index products could have reached $22 billion to $27 billion.
