June 22, 2026 (Beijing time) marked the official implementation of the latest quarterly rebalancing for the Nasdaq-100 Index. Five new companies from the AI cloud services, semiconductor interconnect, and aerospace sectors joined the index, while five traditional communications, IT services, and software firms were removed. Shortly after, on July 7 (Beijing time), SpaceX was added to the index at record speed, triggering an estimated $4.3 billion in passive inflows.
With just two weeks between these adjustments, the Nasdaq-100 is undergoing a profound transformation in its constituent structure. This is more than a simple reshuffling of names—what’s entering are AI cloud, data center interconnect, and hard tech assets, while what’s exiting are traditional IT services, mature information services, and communications assets. This shift in asset classes signals a migration in the underlying allocation logic of index-tracking capital. This article analyzes the winners and losers of the latest Nasdaq-100 rebalancing from four perspectives: the rule changes driving constituent adjustments, the fundamental logic behind additions and deletions, passive capital flows, and the market impact of SpaceX’s rapid inclusion.
The Rules Have Changed: How the Nasdaq-100 Pulled Off Two Adjustments in Two Weeks
To understand the winners and losers of this rebalancing, you first need to understand the Nasdaq-100’s adjustment mechanism.
The Nasdaq-100 Index tracks the 100 largest non-financial companies listed on the Nasdaq, covering high-growth sectors like software, semiconductors, internet, consumer electronics, and new energy. Unlike the S&P 500, the Nasdaq-100 uses a purely rules-based selection process with no committee voting; market capitalization rankings are the core criterion. The index undergoes an annual reconstitution every December and quarterly weight rebalancing. As of the end of 2025, global assets tracking the Nasdaq-100 via exchange-traded products exceeded $640 billion, and when including mutual funds, derivatives, and structured products, the total associated capital surpassed $800 billion.
On May 1, 2026 (Beijing time), Nasdaq implemented a key rule change: newly listed mega-cap stocks ranking in the top 40 by market cap can now apply for inclusion in the Nasdaq-100 just 15 trading days after their IPO, replacing the previous minimum three-month waiting period. Nasdaq also adjusted several entry criteria, including removing the 10% minimum free float requirement, combining different share classes for market cap calculations, and updating total shares outstanding on a quarterly basis. The market widely believes these changes were tailored to attract SpaceX.
These new rules enabled the June quarterly rebalance and SpaceX’s July fast-track inclusion to occur just two weeks apart.
Winners: Five Newcomers and the Shift in Asset Pricing Power
The Five Newly Added Companies
According to the official Nasdaq announcement, the five companies added in the June 2026 quarterly rebalance are:
Astera Labs (Nasdaq: ALAB) — A semiconductor company specializing in high-speed connectivity solutions for cloud and AI infrastructure, including PCIe/CXL/Ethernet smart retimers and switches that enable rack-level AI interconnect in data centers.
CoreWeave (Nasdaq: CRWV) — An AI-native cloud infrastructure provider offering large-scale GPU computing platforms for AI training and inference. In Q1 2026, CoreWeave posted $2.078 billion in revenue, up 112% year-over-year; remaining performance obligations (RPO) reached $98.8 billion by quarter-end. However, its capital expenditures are also massive—Q1 cash outflows for property and equipment hit $7.695 billion, with net interest expenses of $536 million.
Nebius Group (Nasdaq: NBIS) — An AI cloud company spun off from Yandex’s international business, operating large GPU clusters in Europe and the US. Q1 revenue reached $399 million, up 684% year-over-year.
Rocket Lab (Nasdaq: RKLB) — An aerospace company focused on small satellite launch services and space systems manufacturing.
Teradyne (Nasdaq: TER) — A leader in automated test equipment, primarily serving the semiconductor and electronics industries, with a growing presence in advanced robotics.
Year-to-date, all five have significantly outperformed the broader market, with gains ranging from 53% to 242%.
The Winner’s Logic: The Index Recognizes AI Infrastructure as Core Assets
The common thread among these five additions is clear. As Longbridge analysis points out: the new entrants are AI cloud, data center interconnect, semiconductor testing, and hard tech assets; those removed include traditional IT services, mature information services, communications, and software assets.
This is not just a case of new companies replacing old ones—it’s a transfer of pricing power within the tech sector. Previously, the core narrative for tech stocks centered on software subscriptions, internet platforms, and IT services, emphasizing asset-light models, high margins, and stable cash flows. Now, a wave of AI infrastructure companies—heavy on capital expenditure, with high order elasticity and significant financing needs—are entering the core index pool.
The message is clear: AI infrastructure is no longer a marginal theme trade; the index now recognizes it as a core asset class. For passive funds tracking the Nasdaq-100, this means a structural shift in allocation from "asset-light software services" to "asset-heavy AI infrastructure."
Losers: Five Removed Companies and the Repricing of Traditional Tech Assets
The Five Companies Removed
According to Nasdaq’s official announcement, the five companies removed are:
Charter Communications (Nasdaq: CHTR) — A US cable TV and broadband communications provider.
Cognizant Technology Solutions (Nasdaq: CTSH) — A traditional IT services and consulting firm.
Insmed (Nasdaq: INSM) — A biopharmaceutical company.
Verisk Analytics (Nasdaq: VRSK) — A data analytics and risk assessment services provider.
Zscaler (Nasdaq: ZS) — A cloud security company.
The Loser’s Logic: From "Software Defines Everything" to "Compute Defines Everything"
The five companies removed span communications, IT services, biopharma, data analytics, and cloud security—aside from Zscaler, which is in the relatively new cloud security space, the others are all in more mature or traditional tech services sectors.
Their removal is not due to deteriorating fundamentals—Verisk remains competitive in data analytics, and Zscaler still has growth potential in cloud security. The issue is that the Nasdaq-100’s market cap ranking mechanism is shifting weight from "mature tech services" to "expanding AI infrastructure." Being dropped is fundamentally about lagging in relative valuation and market cap, not absolute failure.
More importantly, this sends a clear signal. When the index removes traditional IT services and communications companies and adds AI cloud and semiconductor testing firms, the market interprets this as "AI infrastructure has replaced traditional IT as the core tech narrative." This could prompt active funds to reassess similar assets—not just these five, but the entire "traditional tech services" sector may face repricing pressure.
SpaceX: Fastest Inclusion Ever and $4.3 Billion in Passive Inflows
15 Days from IPO to Index Inclusion
SpaceX debuted on Nasdaq on June 12 (Beijing time) at $135 per share under the ticker SPCX. On its first day, it closed at $160.95, up 19.22% from the IPO price, with a closing market cap exceeding $2.1 trillion. On day one, it overtook Broadcom and Tesla to become the sixth-largest US-listed company by market cap.
Buying momentum continued for the next three sessions, with the stock hitting an intraday high of $225.64 on June 16, pushing its market cap to around $2.66 trillion. However, starting June 17, the stock entered a correction, plunging over 16% on June 22 to close at $154.6, wiping out about $400 billion in market value in a single day. As of the July 2 (US Eastern Time) close, SpaceX traded near $162, with a total market cap of about $2.13 trillion.
Calculating Passive Inflows
J.P. Morgan estimates that the Nasdaq-100 inclusion alone will force about $4.3 billion in passive buying of SpaceX shares. Factoring in simultaneous inclusion in the MSCI and FTSE Russell global index systems, global passive funds could be forced to buy up to $35 billion worth of SpaceX within 15 trading days.
More precise data from Mitrade shows that the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) ETF alone may buy about $4.3 billion in SpaceX shares, while total passive buying by all funds tracking the Nasdaq-100 and related Russell indices could reach $27 billion.
Limited Free Float and Supply-Demand Imbalance
What makes SpaceX’s Nasdaq-100 inclusion unique is its extremely low free float—only 3% to 5% of shares are publicly tradable, with 95% to 97% locked up. This means passive fund buying will be concentrated on a tiny free float, potentially causing short-term supply-demand imbalances and price pressure.
As for the lock-up, the earliest window for insider sales is expected after SpaceX’s first quarterly earnings release on August 6 (Beijing time), when insiders may be allowed to sell up to 20% of their holdings. Until then, index-tracking purchases are happening while supply remains almost unchanged.
QQQ Rebalancing Impact: How Passive Funds Are Reallocating
The Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) is the world’s largest ETF tracking the Nasdaq-100 and one of the most actively traded securities globally. As of June 9, 2026, the Nasdaq-100 had returned 16.71% year-to-date.
QQQ uses a modified market-cap weighting approach, resulting in high concentration among large-cap stocks. This means that whenever the index changes its constituents, QQQ must rebalance its holdings before the effective date. The June 22 (Beijing time) quarterly rebalance and the July 7 (Beijing time) SpaceX inclusion resulted in two consecutive rounds of passive fund repositioning.
For crypto market traders, QQQ’s rebalancing signals broader capital flows. As the Nasdaq-100 accelerates its inclusion of AI infrastructure and hard tech firms, traditional tech services sectors face outflows. This "internal tech sector rotation" could impact risk asset allocation preferences across the board.
Additionally, QQQ and other Nasdaq-100-based covered call ETFs (such as the NEOS Nasdaq 100 High Income ETF and ProShares Nasdaq-100 High Income ETF) must also recalibrate their equity holdings and options positions to minimize tracking error after index changes.
Conclusion
The lines between winners and losers in this Nasdaq-100 reshuffle are both clear and profound.
Winners include AI cloud infrastructure leaders like CoreWeave and Nebius, semiconductor interconnect specialists like Astera Labs, and aerospace disruptors like Rocket Lab. Their inclusion means the index is now using market cap as a vote to confirm AI infrastructure as a core asset class. Ongoing passive inflows will further solidify their valuations.
Losers, such as Charter Communications, Cognizant, and Verisk, represent traditional communications and IT services. Their removal is not due to collapsing fundamentals, but rather their market caps lagging amid the AI wave—reflecting a reallocation of valuation premium from "traditional tech services" to "emerging AI infrastructure."
SpaceX’s lightning-fast inclusion is the ultimate expression of this logic. Fifteen days from IPO to index entry, $4.3 billion in passive buying, and less than 5% public float—this combination is both a direct result of new index rules and a real-world test of the new paradigm where mega-cap tech IPOs receive index-scale capital support.
For crypto market participants, the significance of the Nasdaq-100 rebalance goes beyond US equities. As the world’s largest tech index tilts rapidly toward AI infrastructure and hard tech, the structure of risk asset capital flows is undergoing systemic change. Whether this shift will affect the rotation between crypto and tech stocks remains a key trend to watch.
FAQ
Q: How often does the Nasdaq-100 adjust its constituents?
The Nasdaq-100 undergoes a full annual reconstitution each December, with quarterly (March, June, September, December) weight rebalancing. Since the new rules took effect on May 1, 2026, eligible mega-cap IPOs can be fast-tracked for inclusion just 15 trading days after listing.
Q: How much passive capital will SpaceX’s Nasdaq-100 inclusion bring?
J.P. Morgan estimates that Nasdaq-100 inclusion alone will trigger about $4.3 billion in passive buying of SpaceX shares. Including the simultaneous effect of MSCI and FTSE Russell global index inclusion, total passive inflows could reach $35 billion within 15 trading days.
Q: Does removal of the five companies mean their fundamentals have deteriorated?
Not necessarily. Removal is mainly due to lower relative market cap rankings, not absolute deterioration. Companies like Verisk and Zscaler remain competitive in their respective fields, but the Nasdaq-100’s ranking mechanism is shifting weight from mature tech services to AI infrastructure.
Q: What does QQQ’s rebalancing mean for ordinary investors?
ETFs like QQQ that track the Nasdaq-100 must complete portfolio adjustments before the effective date. This creates passive buying pressure on added stocks and selling pressure on those removed. Investors holding related stocks or ETFs may experience short-term price volatility during the rebalancing window.
Q: How is crypto related to the Nasdaq-100 rebalance?
There has been some capital rotation between crypto assets and the Nasdaq-100 over the past quarter. As the Nasdaq-100 accelerates its inclusion of AI infrastructure and hard tech firms, traditional tech services sectors face outflows. This structural change could influence overall risk asset allocation strategies.
