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Walmart’s Tuesday gains pushed the stock back into positive territory for the year.
Credit: Scott Olson / Getty Images

Key Takeaways

• Walmart shares gained Tuesday after the retailer announced plans to lower prices on thousands of items across its namesake stores and its warehouse retailer Sam’s Club.

• Leaning further into its emphasis on value could help Walmart snag more consumers who are working to get the most out of their budgets as prices rise.

Walmart is cutting prices. Investors are cheering the plan.

Shares of Walmart (WMT) were rising more than 1% in Tuesday trading, a day after the retail giant announced plans to lower prices across categories from groceries to toys and clothing. Walmart’s warehouse retail chain Sam’s Club will also cut prices on hundreds of items. (Read our full coverage of today’s trading here.)

Why This Matters to Investors

Customers across income levels have increasingly turned to value-focused retailers like Walmart in recent years as they have looked to stretch their budgets to handle persistent inflation.

Walmart has long been known for its low prices, and the retailer likely sees room to continue gaining market share by emphasizing its value proposition at a time when prices have risen across the economy. Rising prices have hurt consumers’ outlook about the economy and raised concerns that inflation could persist and disrupt the economy for much of this year. The U.S.-Iran conflict has in recent months contributed to higher fuel prices, which reverberates across the economy, shifting consumer spending patterns and raising the prices of other goods.

President Trump praised the decision on social media, writing that his administration had asked Walmart and other retailers to do so.

Walmart and the Trump administration crossed paths last year, when Walmart said that Trump’s tariffs would lead to higher prices, a notion Trump later criticized, encouraging the company to “eat the tariffs” and not raise prices for consumers.

With Tuesday’s gains, Walmart shares have climbed back into positive territory for the year. They are down nearly 20% from the highs they reached ahead of its last earnings report in May.

Fiserv stock is among the weakest performers in the S&P 500 over the past year.
Credit: Caleb Santiago Alvarado / Bloomberg / Getty Images

Key Takeaways

• Fiserv shares rose Tuesday following a report that big banks are considering buying a payment processing network from the company.
• Big banks are weighing a deal that would help them get around a law limiting the fees they can charge on debit card transactions, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Big banks have reportedly been looking to acquire a payments processing network from Fiserv, and the financial technology firm’s stock is getting a boost Tuesday on the news.

Shares of Fiserv (FISV) were up 4% in recent trading after The Wall Street Journal reported late Monday that banks including JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Bank of America (BAC), Wells Fargo (WFC) and PNC Financial Services (PNC) have weighed making an offer for a network owned by Fiserv.

Acquiring their own payment processing network could allow the banks to bypass limits on the fees they charge merchants to process debit card transactions, which banks have said would pay for things like expanded rewards programs for debit cards. The report noted that some of the banks have already dropped the idea of pursuing a deal, likely due to concerns over pushback from regulators or merchants that could come as a result of such a deal.

Why This Matters to Investors

A deal to sell part of its business or be acquired by a big bank could help lift Fiserv’s stock out of a rough stretch, as shares are down about 20% since the start of the year and some 70% in the last 12 months.

The banks are reportedly looking to get around the Durbin Amendment, part of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act, which caps debit card transaction fees but also has an exception for banks that own their own payment network.

The deal would mirror Capital One’s (COF) acquisition of Discover Financial, and could help banks avoid billions in so-called “swipe fees” annually, while critics could say such a deal could lead to higher fees that would be passed on to consumers.

JPMorgan Chase declined to comment on the report, and Fiserv and the other big banks did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Shares of PepsiCo are flat this year.
Credit: Joseph Weiser / Icon Sportswire / Getty Images

Key Takeaways

• PepsiCo’s next earnings report is set to be released Thursday morning following a recent pullback in the soda and snack maker’s stock.
• Sales and profits are expected to have grown year-over-year, but analysts have said sales in some of Pepsi’s segments look to have weakened recently.

PepsiCo is scheduled to post its latest quarterly results ahead of the opening bell Thursday. The food and beverage giant’s stock could undergo a sizable swing to finish the week.

Based on current options pricing, PepsiCo (PEP) shares are seen moving as much as 4% in either direction by the end of the week. A move of that size from Monday’s close of $143.29 could see shares rise to nearly $149, their highest point in over a month, or fall to below $138, near their lowest point of the year. Pepsi shares fell slightly Monday on a solid day for stocks broadly, with the Dow closing at a new record high.

Why This Matters to Investors

PepsiCo and fellow household names like Delta Air Lines and Levi Strauss are each set to report earnings this week, kicking off the second-quarter earnings season and providing fresh insights on how American consumers fared in the second quarter.

Through Monday, Pepsi shares were down about 16% from their February highs as worries about the Iran war stoking inflation have fueled concerns that consumers are getting more selective with their grocery budgets.

Analysts from UBS and Bank of America recently trimmed their price targets to $172 and $164, respectively, from $186 and $173, citing concerns with recent sales trends in Pepsi’s North American snack foods business. The UBS analysts said it is “not surprising that Pepsi shares have been under considerable pressure” in the last few months as sales seemed pressured in May and June.

PepsiCo is expected to report second-quarter revenue of $24 billion, up nearly 6% year-over-year, and adjusted earnings of $2.19 per share, 7 cents higher than the same time a year ago, according to Visible Alpha estimates. PepsiCo topped estimates in the first quarter, highlighting the strength of its international business.

Analysts are largely bullish on the stock, with the six analysts tracked by Visible Alpha holding four “buy” ratings, compared to one each neutral and “sell” rating. The analysts assign an average price target just under $165, representing upside of about 15% that would mark the stock’s highest point since early March.

The Dow closed at another record high on Monday, while a big rally in AI stocks pushed the S&P 500 and Nasdaq sharply higher.
Credit: Michael Nagle / Bloomberg / Getty Images

Futures are pointing to a mixed open for major indexes as tech stocks retreat after posting big gains to start the week; SpaceX is set to join the Nasdaq 100 ahead of this morning’s opening bell; a big drop from Samsung in Korean trading is weighing on several U.S. tech stocks; Fiserv shares are rallying on a report that several big banks have considered buying a payment processing network it owns; and Rivian shares are falling after the EV maker released preliminary results and announced a new stock sale. Here’s what you need to know today.

Stock Futures Mixed as Tech Stocks Drop After Week-Opening Rally

Stock futures are mixed this morning as tech stocks pull back from yesterday’s gains. Futures tied to the tech-heavy Nasdaq and the benchmark S&P 500 were recently down 1% and 0.2%, respectively, while Dow Jones Industrial Average futures added 0.3%. The Dow closed at another record high yesterday, while a big rally in AI stocks pushed the S&P 500 and Nasdaq sharply higher. WTI crude oil futures were up 0.7% at $69 per barrel after the British military said a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz caught on fire after being “struck by a projectile,” a potential signal that the problems with the key shipping lane caused by the Iran war may not be fully over. Gold futures were holding steady around $4,170 an ounce, while bitcoin was little-changed at $63,700. The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which affects interest rates on consumer loans, ticked higher to 4.50%.

SpaceX to Join Nasdaq 100 Today

The Nasdaq 100 index is set to get a new member today, with SpaceX (SPCX) joining the tech-heavy index ahead of the opening bell. The addition to the Nasdaq 100 comes less than a month after the company’s record-breaking IPO, after some of the major index providers made changes to their rules to accommodate this year’s expected big AI stock debuts. The news was a boost for SpaceX stock when it was announced late last month, but shares have pulled back recently. SpaceX shares were little-changed in recent premarket trading after closing yesterday at $160, still above its debut price of $150 but well off the high of around $225 it reached in its first days as a public company.

Chip Stocks Drop After Samsung Slumps in Korean Trading

AI stocks are under pressure following a stumble from Samsung on its home Korean Stock Exchange in Tuesday trading. Samsung reported preliminary results for the second quarter this morning, expecting revenue of roughly 171 trillion Korean won ($112.7 billion) and operating profit of about 89.4 trillion won ($59 billion). Each metric was well above the analyst consensus compiled by Visible Alpha, but may not have been enough to impress investors who were looking for bigger AI-driven numbers. Samsung shares fell 7% in Tuesday trading in Seoul. Shares of Nvidia (NVDA) and Broadcom (AVGO) were each down 2% ahead of the opening bell, while Intel (INTC) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) dropped more than 3%. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) fell 3% ahead of the opening bell.

Fiserv Stock Jumps on Report That Banks Could Acquire Payments Network

Shares of Fiserv (FISV) are rallying following a report that several big banks have recently considered acquiring the company’s payments network. The Wall Street Journal reported late Monday that banks including JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Bank of America (BAC), Wells Fargo (WFC) and PNC Financial Services (PNC) have weighed making an offer, but also said some have already abandoned the idea. Acquiring their own payment processing network could allow the banks to bypass limits on the fees they charge merchants to process debit card transactions, which banks have said would pay for things like rewards programs for debit cards. Fiserv shares were up 5% premarket, while each of the four bank stocks mentioned in the report rose slightly.

Rivian Falls as EV Maker Announces Preliminary Results, Share Offering

Shares of Rivian (RIVN) are falling this morning after the electric vehicle maker announced preliminary sales results for the second quarter along with a plan to sell new stock. Rivian said it expects revenue to come in between $1.55 billion and $1.65 billion, up from $1.3 billion a year ago and above the Visible Alpha consensus of $1.45 billion, noting that lower average selling prices offset higher sales volume in the quarter. Rivian also announced a new public offering of about 75 million shares of stock, saying it expects to use the proceeds to help pay back a Department of Energy loan. Rivian stock was down 11% premarket, after rising 8% yesterday.

SpaceX’s logo, seen on a spacesuit displayed in Washington, D.C. The company’s stock has gone on a wild ride since its debut in June.
Credit: Kevin Carter / Getty Images

Key Takeaways

• SpaceX joined the Nasdaq 100 index today, the latest market measure to incorporate the company since it went public last month.
• With the stock unlikely to join any more major indexes in the coming months, investor attention may now turn to lock-up expirations and Wall Street research.

SpaceX joined a high-profile stock index today. It didn’t help the stock.

Shares of SpaceX (SPCX), Elon Musk’s latest foray into public markets, finished down nearly 7%Tuesday, their first session as members of the Nasdaq 100. The shares ended the day just below the $150 at which they opened trading on IPO day nearly a month ago, closing below that price for the first time ever. They’re also well off the high above $225 set a few days after their debut. Futures-market data suggests that the stock could have a lively week in the wake of the addition, potentially rising back into the $170s, though it didn’t happen today, with the shares spending the entire session in the red.

Why This Matters to Investors

Shares of SpaceX haven’t sustained their post-IPO highs. But backers see the stock’s inclusion in high-profile indexes as giving them a lift, since funds that track those measures need to buy shares to keep up.

Investors generally expect the addition of the stock to the Nasdaq 100 and other high-profile indexes to lift SpaceX, since funds that track those measures buy shares of the companies that join them—and money managers have lately announced plans to launch even more funds tracking this particular one, taking on the well-known “QQQ” exchange-traded fund. (BlackRock, for one, today launched the iShares Nasdaq 100 ETF, or IQQ, which has an 0.12% expense ratio that will be a bit lower for a year.) This is likely to be the last high-profile index addition for SpaceX for a while, though it may yet become a member of the benchmark S&P 500 someday. A number of other indexes have already added the stock.

Investors looking for other possible catalysts may now turn to the start of lock-up expiries. An IPO lock-up period prevents company insiders and early investors from immediately selling their shares after a company goes public; the passing of a lock-up date doesn’t mean they will necessarily sell immediately. The first of a series of SpaceX expirations lands on the second full trading day immediately following the company’s first earnings release date, which has yet to be announced but is expected in late July or early August; how many shares could be affected is in part dependent on the trajectory of the stock, with better performance potentially meaning more eligible shares.

They may also continue to eye the arrival of more coverage from Wall Street analysts. Wedbush got in on the act last week, setting a bullish “outperform” rating and a $190 price target on the shares. Many major banks have yet to launch research on the stock, though several did so today. One standout was Morgan Stanley, which set a $300 price target on the shares. (Here’s Investopedia’s roundup of the latest, largely bullish, action from Street analysts.)

Meantime, SpaceX continues to hold a place among the world’s most valuable companies. As of today’s close, its market cap was above $1.95 trillion.

This article has been updated since it was first published to reflect the close of trading and to add context.

Wall Street expects the S&P 500 to report a second straight quarter of earnings growth above 20%.
Credit: Michael Nagle / Bloomberg via Getty Images

Key Takeaways

• Analysts expect the S&P 500 to report earnings grew 23% last quarter, with energy company results buoyed by high oil prices and the tech sector boosted by the AI data center buildout.
• Some on Wall Street are concerned that accelerating input cost inflation and the specter of AI data center depreciation could put a damper on the second-quarter earnings season, which kicks off in earnest next week.

Higher prices for raw materials and semiconductors were likely a boon to S&P 500 earnings last quarter. They could also be a risk.

Banks will kick off second-quarter earnings season next week, and after a gangbusters first quarter Wall Street is eyeing another round of strong reports. Analysts expect the S&P 500 to report earnings grew about 23% in the three months through June, which would mark the index’s second consecutive quarter of earnings growth above 20%.

Much of that growth is expected to be driven by sectors benefiting from supply shortages that have sent goods prices sharply higher. The energy sector’s earnings are expected to more than double year-over-year after crude oil prices skyrocketed amid the war in Iran. The tech sector’s earnings may increase more than 60% due in large part to an AI-driven memory shortage. 

Why This Is Important

Analysts expect strong earnings growth to keep stocks in the green through the end of the year, helping to offset the risk of higher inflation, interest rate increases and an uncertain outlook for U.S. consumers.

Experts note the strength is more broadly distributed than in recent years, when a handful of tech giants accounted for the majority of the S&P 500’s earnings growth and returns. The median S&P 500 company is expected to report earnings grew 14%, according to BCA Research. That’s the same rate as the first quarter, which UBS called “one of the strongest quarters in a decade.” Only one of 11 sectors—healthcare—is expected to report earnings declined last quarter, with every other sector expected to show growth of at least 5%. 

“Investors are witnessing growth rates typically seen in the early stages of an economic recovery, not 4 long years into a record-setting bull market,” Fidelity analysts wrote recently.

The strength of corporate earnings this year caught Wall Street by surprise, but expectations have been rising. Between the beginning and end of the second quarter, analysts increased their S&P 500 earnings estimates by more than 3%. Those estimates are normally lowered throughout the quarter. Rising expectations can be a double-edged sword for investors. They signal that business fundamentals are strong, but they also raise the bar for companies to clear, increasing the risk that results disappoint and stocks drop. 

Experts warn of a couple other factors that could play spoiler. “Even prior to the closure of the [Strait of Hormuz], we saw margin risks starting to emerge with producer prices accelerating,” said Gina Martin Adams, chief market strategist at HB Wealth. The Producer Price Index, a leading indicator of consumer inflation that measures what prices producers are paid for their goods and services, rose 6.5% year-over-year in May, its fastest pace since 2022. Companies facing quickly rising input costs will need to raise prices or cut other costs to maintain their profit margins. 

The data center buildout fueling the tech sector’s explosive growth may be another cause for concern. Hyperscalers—Alphabet (GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon (AMZN), Meta (META) and Oracle (ORCL)—have spent hundreds of billions on capital expenditures in the past few years and are expected to shell out more than $700 billion this year alone as they race to build the data centers that enable artificial intelligence. That spending has padded the bottom lines of companies supplying chips, networking hardware, electrical equipment and other data center essentials. It has also accelerated growth in the hyperscalers’ cloud computing businesses. 

But analysts warn those investments will eventually become a headwind to profits as the hardware ages and hyperscalers are required to account for depreciation expenses. JPMorgan warns the bulk of that depreciation is yet to come. Nearly 40% of Alphabet’s infrastructure assets were still under construction at the end of March, suggesting “a large portion of the infrastructure pipeline has yet to hit the depreciation line.”

The rapid rate of improvement in AI chips may force the hyperscalers to depreciate data center equipment at a faster-than-normal rate. The implied useful life and average age of Alphabet’s infrastructure assets each declined double-digits year-over-year in the first quarter, “pointing to accelerating hardware refresh cycles” and “foreshadowing a structurally higher depreciation run-rate” in the coming years, according to JPMorgan.

Strategy sold 3,588 bitcoin in the last week under the company’s new “BTC Monetization” program.
Credit: Photographer: Ronda Churchill / Bloomberg via Getty Images

Key Takeaways

• Strategy, the enterprise software company turned digital asset treasury, last week sold more than $215 million worth of the leading cryptocurrency.
• Crypto markets remain challenged with spot ETFs continuing to see outflows. Bitcoin last traded around $63,000.

Bitcoin’s big whale is unloading.

Strategy (MSTR), the enterprise software company turned digital asset treasury, sold 3,588 bitcoin in the past week to raise some $215 million under its “BTC Monetization” program, the company said, far more than its other recent sale of just 32 bitcoin in early June. Though the company has long touted the value of bitcoin, its current goal is to generate cash—$1.25 billion of it—to fund its preferred stock dividends as well as repurchase those securities and its common shares.

Investors have generally cheered the company’s plans to sell. The stock rose last week, and it was recently up about 1% in Monday afternoon trading, climbing off June year-to-date lows. Its “Stretch” preferred stock is up about 2% so far Monday to around $90, inching back to its $100-per-share par price.

WHY IT MATTERS TO STRATEGY

The company made famous for hoarding bitcoin is trying to strategically sell bitcoin—harder to execute when coins are trading at below its average purchase price.

At the pace implied by Strategy’s reported bitcoin sales between June 29 and July 5, the company would get to its stated fund-raising goal in roughly 5 weeks. Assuming an average sale price of $60,000, the company would have to sell about 17,000 additional coins. (Bitcoin recently changed hands around $63,000.) Though such a sale would hardly dent its stockpile of more than 840,000 bitcoin, a deepening pessimism in crypto markets could make selling less fruitful. Strategy in its Monday filing said the company had lost over $8 billion on digital assets as of June 30, including $900,000 in realized losses and the rest on paper. The company did not immediately respond to an Investopedia query asking at what pace the company intended to sell its crypto in time for publication.

Some Wall Street analysts have recently cut their outlooks for bitcoin. With little legislative progress around the Clarity Act, which was expected to boost crypto markets, and flows in spot bitcoin ETFs going from “slow to no-show,” according to Citi, the outlook has dimmed for digital assets. Spot bitcoin ETFs saw some $5.5 billion in net outflows year-to-date through July 2, according to Farside Investors. Though they snapped their 10 straight days of outflows at the end of last week before the holiday, Citi doesn’t expect them to see much in new dollars for the rest of the year, and analyst Alex Saunders last week cut his 12-month price target for bitcoin to $82,000 from $112,000.

His bear case puts prices at $52,512, down from $57,537, implying downside of over 15% from recent levels. His bull case is for $108,313, down from $165,959, indicating upside of almost 75%.

Though Citi’s bull and base cases are above Strategy’s average bitcoin purchase price of $75,476, per the company’s disclosures, its bear case is substantially below it. Citi also last week lowered its price target on Strategy to $136 from $260, incorporating the company’s new capital plan and the bank’s new bitcoin target. All four brokers tracked by Visible Alpha rate the company a “buy,” effectively a bullish rating, and their average price target, which includes Citi’s, is about $264, implying upside of 164% from where the stock traded recently.

Shares of Intel and other chipmakers posted solid gains on Monday.
Credit: Daniel Ceng / Anadolu / Getty Images

Key Takeaways

• Shares of several chipmakers and memory companies rose Monday as the AI trade continues to bounce back from a recent sell-off.
• Bank of America analysts said Monday the recent pullback is “a healthy reset” and not an indicator of demand.

The AI trade is off to a strong start this week, with several chip and memory stocks among the biggest gainers in the S&P 500 and Nasdaq on Monday.

Data storage company Western Digital (WDC) soared more than 7% to pace advancers in the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100, while chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) rose nearly 7%, and Qualcomm (QCOM) and Seagate Technology (STX) each gained roughly 6%.

Major AI names including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM) and Broadcom (AVGO) both advanced about 4%, while Nvidia (NVDA), Micron Technology (MU) and Intel (INTC) also finished the session higher. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) rose more than 2% and the Roundhill Memory ETF (DRAM) climbed 7%.

Why This Matters to Investors

Monday’s gains could be taken as an encouraging signal that the AI trade is in for a positive week following a recent volatile stretch.

Chip stocks are recovering from a recent pullback, as analysts have remained bullish on the outlook for the AI trade despite the volatility that has plagued tech stocks.

Bank of America analysts wrote Monday that they see the recent slump as “a healthy reset, not a structural change in AI demand,” and said that periods of consolidation in the tech sector are “often followed by renewed momentum as investors regain confidence in the next leg of earnings and capex growth.”

The analysts said they expect cloud and AI spending to reach $1.5 trillion next year, up about 40% to 50% year-over-year, noting that spending should be spread among multiple sectors including memory, chips and networking hardware, benefitting a wide range of stocks.

UPDATE: This article has been updated to reflect Monday’s closing prices.

Sotheby’s is auctioning off the black leather jacket Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is seen wearing above.
Credit: I-Hwa Cheng / AFP / Getty Images

Key Takeaways

• A black leather jacket worn by Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang will be auctioned by Sotheby’s this week.

• The auction house expects the Tom Ford jacket to sell for $40,000 to $60,000.

Always wanted a leather jacket just like Jensen’s? Now you can just own Jensen’s.

Granted, it’ll cost you: A black leather zip-front jacket worn and signed by Nvidia (NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang will be auctioned by Sotheby’s between Tuesday and July 17, according to the auction house, which says it was worn by the chief at an event in Taipei in October 2023. The Tom Ford jacket, which sports pairs of buttoned and zippered pockets on the chest, is expected to sell for $40,000 to $60,000, the auction house said. The sale will benefit a nonprofit called the Edge Institute, according to Sotheby’s.

Jensen Huang’s black leather Tom Ford jacket.
Credit: Courtesy Sotheby's

The designer of this particular model sells other leather jackets—while they aren’t cheap purchased new, they run for substantially less than $40,000—but they don’t come with the telltale autograph or pledge that it was worn by Huang The autograph on the jacket up for auction is in the inner lining.

As Huang’s wealth and corporate influence have grown alongside Nvidia, his jackets have become calling cards of sorts. And they’ve even led some Nvidia watchers to wonder whether Huang’s wardrobe choices should be taken as subtle signals to investors: In January, an analyst asked Huang during a Q&A whether anything should be read into the amount of flash the CEO might be wearing at a given time. (Days earlier, during another speech, the executive had asked “Do you like my jacket?”)

“What’s going on with the jackets? You had a really shiny one in the keynote, and now there’s a dull one,” Melius Research analyst Ben Reitzes asked in January, according to a transcript made available by AlphaSense. “And I was kind of going to buy the prior model. Is the quarter going really well, we’re in a multi-jacket business model now or what’s going on?”

“There’s no question I’m in a multi-jacket life,’ Huang replied. “That’s because business is going pretty well, Ben. Thanks for asking.”

Nvidia is the world’s most valuable publicly traded company, with a market capitalization of about $4.75 trillion

SpaceX shares pulled back from their highs following the company's mid-June IPO.
Credit: Victor J. Blue / Bloomberg / Getty Images

Key Takeaways

• SpaceX is slated to join the Nasdaq 100 ahead of the market's open Tuesday, which could drive new interest in the shares.
• SpaceX has had a volatile first few weeks as a public company, managing to stay above its opening price while pulling back from the highs it reached in its first days on the market.

SpaceX is set to join the Nasdaq 100 tomorrow. Could that give the stock a fresh boost?

The newly public space, connectivity, and AI firm will join the tech-centric index ahead of the opening bell Tuesday, just weeks after its record-shattering IPO. It's generally seen as a good thing when stocks join major indexes, since funds that track those measures have to buy shares. Several money managers have recently created or plan to launch their own Nasdaq 100-tracking funds, piggybacking on the popular "QQQ."

SpaceX (SPCX) stock has been volatile in its first weeks of trading, finishing last week at $162— above its opening price of $150 but down more than 20% from the highs it reached in its first days on the market. Current options pricing suggests traders are anticipating SpaceX stock to swing up to 8% in either direction by the end of the week. A move of that size from Thursday's close could push the stock as high as $175, or see it fall as low as $148, the latter which would be a new closing low. (The shares were rising premarket Monday. Here's our live coverage of today's trading.)

Why This Matters to Investors

Index inclusion has been a hot topic for SpaceX, as the stock stands to benefit from being bought by institutional investors and index funds that track indexes such as the Nasdaq 100.

Banks have started to launch coverage of the company, with analysts from Wedbush and KeyBanc recently assigning the stock "outperform" and neutral ratings, respectively. Wedbush last week gave the stock a $190 price target.

The Wedbush analysts said SpaceX is "well-positioned to become a major hyperscaler" with its range of connected businesses across AI, space launches and exploration, and internet connectivity in Starlink each poised for growth.

SpaceX is one of many big tech debuts already in the books or expected in 2026, following chipmaker Cerebras (CBRS) earlier this year.

AI firms Anthropic and OpenAI could themselves debut in the back half of this year, although SpaceX's volatility is reportedly a cause for concern that could delay OpenAI's debut.