Marvell gets a spot in the S&P 500 - along with this data-center play

By Emily Bary and Claudia Assis

The new additions beef up the IT sector's presence within the benchmark index

The S&P 500 is due for its quarterly rebalance.

Chipmaker Marvell Technology and manufacturer Flex will be joining the S&P 500 in a couple of weeks, index provider S&P Dow Jones Indices said late Friday.

Marvell (MRVL) and Flex (FLEX) were leading candidates for inclusion going into the quarterly index rebalance. Marvell's market capitalization had surged to $230 billion, significantly above the minimum market capitalization of $22.7 billion required for S&P 500 SPX entry, and also well ahead of the market cap of the next largest eligible company, Bloom Energy (BE), at $75 billion.

The chipmaker also maintained an average market capitalization north of $50 billion over the past year, according to Stephens analyst Melissa Roberts, helping make the case that its recent ascent wasn't just a flash in the pan.

Every quarter, S&P Dow Jones Indices takes the opportunity to assess whether discretionary changes should be made to its benchmark index. In some cases - such as at this time last year - the index committee decides not to swap in any new members. But generally, S&P Dow Jones Indices opts for at least some changes.

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Flex is a manufacturing company that plays into the data-center market and had become outsize within the S&P MidCap 400 index MID

Others in the running included Reddit (RDDT), according to Stephens analyst Melissa Roberts. The social-media company is worth $33 billion.

A place in the S&P 500 is a coveted milestone for companies, as it brings their shares to a much broader range of investors, including passive funds tracking the index and actively managed funds that may have limitations on where they can invest.

There was some expectation that IT companies, which in general are underrepresented in the S&P 500 relative to their collective weighting in the broader S&P Total Market Index, could make the cut ahead of anticipated initial public offerings from SpaceX (SPCX), Anthropic and OpenAI, to beef up the sector.

That said, it will be some time before those megacap technology companies make it into the S&P 500 after their IPOs. S&P Dow Jones Indices announced on Thursday that it decided against amending its policies for index inclusion. Had it changed its rules, companies like SpaceX would have been eligible for entry as soon as six months after their public debuts, rather than the current requirement of one year after going public, and also would have been exempted from profitability requirements. SpaceX reported a steep net loss last year.

See more: In 'wild' twist, SpaceX won't be allowed early entry to the S&P 500 after all

The quarterly changes announced on Friday are effective at the open on Monday, June 22. Campbell's (CPB) and Pool Corp (POOL) will be removed from the index at that time.

Dow Jones Indices also makes tweaks at unscheduled times, such as when a current component gets acquired. Besides market capitalization requirements, some other eligibility must-haves relate to float and profitability.

When looking at companies that clear those bars, the index committee then has discretion over which companies to include and may informally consider factors like sector weightings.

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-Emily Bary -Claudia Assis

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

06-05-26 1727ET