S&P 500 Rejects SpaceX from Index, OpenAI and Anthropic Also Blocked on Profitability Rules

The S&P 500 has officially excluded SpaceX from its benchmark index, and the profitability requirements that blocked Elon Musk's rocket company are also barring high-profile AI firms OpenAI and Anthropic from entry, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices' latest quarterly rebalancing decision.

The exclusion stems from the S&P 500's long-standing profitability rule, which requires companies to report positive earnings in the most recent quarter and across the sum of the previous four quarters on a GAAP basis. Despite commanding extraordinary private-market valuations — SpaceX at over $350 billion, OpenAI above $150 billion, and Anthropic approaching $100 billion — none of these companies currently meet the earnings threshold required for inclusion in the world's most-watched stock index.

Profitability Remains the Gatekeeper

The S&P 500's methodology has served as a quality filter for decades, preventing speculative and pre-revenue companies from entering the index regardless of their market capitalization or cultural significance. While SpaceX generates significant revenue from its Starlink satellite internet division and launch services, heavy capital expenditures on Starship development and the Mars program have kept net income in the red.

OpenAI and Anthropic face an even steeper climb. Both AI labs are burning billions annually on compute infrastructure, model training, and talent acquisition, with no clear path to GAAP profitability in the near term. OpenAI's rapid revenue growth — reportedly surpassing $5 billion annually — is offset by training costs that run into the tens of billions for frontier models.

Implications for Passive Investors

The exclusion means that the billions of dollars flowing into S&P 500 index funds will continue to bypass these companies entirely. For context, trillions are passively benchmarked to the S&P 500, and missing out on inclusion means these firms cannot benefit from the automatic buying pressure that accompanies index membership. The decision underscores a growing tension between public-market indexing frameworks and the economics of frontier technology companies that prioritize growth over profits, sometimes for decades.

Source: Ars Technica, S&P Dow Jones Indices methodology documentation.