Nasdaq will change its rules to allow newly-listed large companies to reach its main index more quickly, ahead of initial public offerings from companies like SpaceX and OpenAI.
New listings with a market capitalisation ranking within the top 40 members of Nasdaq-100 can be added to the index after their 15th day of trading under these rules. Previously, this would require at least three months after an IPO.
“Currently new constituents can only be added at reconstitution or as replacements, which leads to large newly listed companies often being delayed from index inclusion, creating a gap between investor expectations and index market representation,” Nasdaq wrote in a consultation document. “‘Fast Entry’ reduces that gap and allows for more timely market representation.”
“It is not necessarily representative to have a company that's big and could have a sizable representation in the index to keep them out for that long," Nasdaq global head of index solutions Cameron Lilja told Reuters.
Major companies are increasingly staying private for longer and amassing large market capitalisations before an IPO, said Lilja.
The number of public companies listed on United States exchanges has fallen by 36% since 2000, Nasdaq found in a report last year.
The rules change comes ahead of an IPO by SpaceX, which is set to be the largest ever by any company. SpaceX reportedly hopes to raise US$75 billion at a $1.75 trillion valuation, and would likely list in June.
Artificial intelligence companies OpenAI and Anthropic are also reportedly planning IPOs. OpenAI is targeting a listing before the end of 2026, while Anthropic is aiming to list in October.
Other rule changes the Nasdaq-100 will enact include calculating companies’ market capitalisations with unlisted shares that are part of different classes and removing its requirement for companies to float at least 10% of their shares.
