--- title: "SpaceX joined QQQ weeks after listing, on a new Nasdaq-100 rule" url: "https://etf.net/news/spacex-joins-qqq-under-new-rule-2026-10-23" published_at: "2026-10-23T16:30:35.626Z" updated_at: "2026-10-23T16:30:35.626Z" byline: "ETF.net Research" --- # SpaceX joined QQQ weeks after listing, on a new Nasdaq-100 rule SpaceX listed with about 5% of its shares in public hands, entered the Nasdaq-100 on July 7, and the September review took its weight from about 1.28% to 2.82%. By ETF.net Research. Published Oct 23, 2026. Space Exploration Technologies joined the Nasdaq-100 before the open on July 7, and Invesco QQQ Trust, Series 1, QQQ, took the stock in with the index. The company had listed on June 12. It entered the index under rules Nasdaq changed on May 1. QQQ holds every security in the index at the index's own weights. Its [summary prospectus](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1067839/000110465925123275/tm2529177d5_497k.htm) calls that full replication. The prospectus also says the fund is non-diversified, which means it may put more of its assets in one issuer than a diversified fund may, even with a hundred names in the index. In an Oct. 9 release, Invesco reported preliminary assets under management of $498.9 billion as of Sept. 30. ## A new listing can enter quickly, at a limited weight The Nasdaq-100 is a list of companies, not a technology fund. A [supplement dated April 30, 2026](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1067839/000110465926052905/tm2612890d3_497.htm), effective the next day, describes the index as 100 of the largest domestic and international non-financial companies listed on U.S. Nasdaq exchanges, selected by market capitalization. The prospectus says real estate investment trusts and special purpose acquisition companies are not eligible either. On May 1, after a public consultation, Nasdaq changed who can enter and how quickly. A new listing that ranks in the top 40 of the index's current constituents, by full market capitalization, is judged at the end of its seventh trading day. Full market capitalization includes shares the public cannot yet buy. If it qualifies, Nasdaq announces the addition after the 10th trading day and adds the stock after the close of the 15th, counting both from the listing. The addition does not force out another company, and the index can temporarily hold more than 100 names. The same change removed a requirement that at least 10% of a company's shares be free floating. Free float is the shares the public can buy, not shares still held by insiders or locked up. A company whose free float is 33.3% or less is weighted at the lesser of its listed market value or three times the value of that float. Nasdaq said, in its July 2026 explanation of the changes, that a fully weighted low-float stock may not support the index's investability as more money tracks the index. In Nasdaq's example, a 5% float means the stock is weighted on 15% of its listed market value. That capped figure is what the filings call modified market capitalization. The index is reconstituted after the close on the third Friday in December, which resets the membership, and the weights are reset quarterly. The new reviews of which companies belong fall in March, June and September. Because the rules took effect on May 1, the first one was June 22, Nasdaq said on May 8. ## The September review reset SpaceX's weight Space Exploration Technologies, which trades as SPCX, is the holding that makes the rule visible. [Invesco wrote on Aug. 5](https://www.invesco.com/us/en/insights/qqq-quarterly-outlook.html) that the company listed on June 12 with a free float of about 5%, that the addition was announced on June 26, and that the stock would enter the index and QQQ before the open on July 7. Invesco expected a weight of 1.25% to 1.35%. SpaceX's free float of about 5% matches that example, which limits such a stock to 15% of its listed market value. The 1.25% to 1.35% Invesco expected was the share of the index at entry, and it was not fixed there. Nasdaq reviews the float at each quarterly rebalance. For a stock below 33.3%, the index weight rises in proportion as the public float grows, until the float passes that line and the full listed market value is used. SpaceX was not in the index for the June 22 review, so September was its first. Bloomberg reported on Sept. 19 that SpaceX would make up **2.82%** of the Nasdaq-100 when the rebalance took effect the following Monday, up from about 1.28%. QQQ holds the index at those weights, so the new weight came into the fund with the rebalance. Chart: SpaceX is now QQQ's **10th-largest** holding ## Technology is most of the holdings, not the mandate On Sept. 30, Invesco's [fact sheet](https://www.invesco.com/us-rest/contentdetail?contentId=5b4d8e58e0737710VgnVCM1000006e36b50aRCRD) for Invesco NASDAQ 100 ETF, QQQM, put technology at **68.0%** of that fund, consumer discretionary at 15.1% and telecommunications at 5.9%. U.S. stocks were 97.1% of it. Both prospectuses describe full replication of the Nasdaq-100, which is why the sheet is a dated look at the list QQQ holds. Morningstar has criticized the construction. "The Nasdaq-100 Index is a flawed benchmark whose superb track record conceals holes in its construction," Zachary Evens of Morningstar wrote on Dec. 22, 2025. ## QQQ is an ordinary ETF now QQQ launched on March 10, 1999 as a unit investment trust. In that format it held the index, but it could not reinvest income, lend securities or use futures. Shareholders approved a conversion to an open-end fund, which allows all three. Invesco's prospectus says the reclassification was effective after the close on Dec. 19, 2025. [Invesco said](https://www.invesco.com/qqq-etf/en/market-outlook/whats-new-about-qqq.html) the change cut the annual fee from 0.20% to 0.18% and was not a taxable event for shareholders. The legal name is still Invesco QQQ Trust, Series 1. ## The same index, at a lower fee QQQM charges 0.15% for the same Nasdaq-100, 0.03 percentage points less than QQQ. It launched on Oct. 13, 2020. Source: etf.net, https://etf.net/news/spacex-joins-qqq-under-new-rule-2026-10-23. Please cite the page URL.