The index provider reviews the S&P 500 every quarter using rigorous criteria on market capitalisation, profitability, liquidity and sector balance to ensure it reflects the largest and most representative top 500 US companies.
The latest update will bring Vertiv Holdings, Lumentum Holdings, Coherent Corp. and EchoStar Corporation into the index.
They replace Match Group, Molina Healthcare, Lamb Weston Holdings and Paycom Software, with the changes taking effect before the market opens on Monday 23 March.
With trillions of dollars in assets tracking the S&P 500, the rebalance typically prompts buying from passive funds, often providing a short-term lift to new members.
Shortly after the S&P Global announcement, on Friday 6 March, all four companies’ shares rose on average 8% as investors began anticipating the increased flow.
Three out of the four incoming firms supply critical infrastructure for the AI boom, from power and cooling systems to high-speed optical components.
According to S&P Global, the changes show how sustained AI investment has become a structural force in the market, to the point that it is reshaping the index composition.
Big Tech is guiding for roughly €600bn in AI spending this year alone.
Vertiv
Vertiv Holdings specialises in critical digital infrastructure, offering power management, thermal management and modular systems that support high-density computing in data centres.
The company has seen explosive demand for liquid cooling and high-power solutions as AI workloads drive energy consumption far beyond conventional levels.
According to Vertiv’s fourth quarter 2025 earnings, released in February, organic orders grew 252% year-on-year in the final quarter, pushing its backlog to $15bn (€13bn) –– a 109% rise from the previous year.
The book-to-bill ratio reached approximately 2.9 times and full-year 2026 guidance points to organic sales growth of 27% to 29%, indicating very strong requisition.
The firm’s strong performance reflects its central role in enabling the hyperscalers’ expansion of AI infrastructure.
Inclusion in the S&P 500 is expected to increase visibility and liquidity through passive fund inflows. This milestone underscores Vertiv’s evolution into a key enabler of the physical infrastructure powering AI growth.
Lumentum
Lumentum Holdings develops advanced optical components, lasers and transceivers that deliver the ultra-high-speed connectivity required inside data centres and across communications networks.
Its products are essential for handling the massive bandwidth demands of AI model training and inference.
In early March, Nvidia announced a multi-year strategic partnership with Lumentum that includes a $2bn (€1.7bn) investment to expand capacity, advance US-based manufacturing and deepen research and development collaborations.
This partnership came alongside multibillion-dollar purchase commitments for advanced laser components.
The S&P 500 addition elevates the profile of optical technologies as a foundational layer in next-generation AI infrastructure.
For Lumentum, the move reinforces its position as a critical supplier in the race to scale AI systems efficiently and at unprecedented speeds.
Coherent
Coherent Corp. focuses on photonics and laser technologies, with a strong emphasis on silicon photonics and high-speed optical interconnects designed for large-scale AI computing clusters.
The company has repositioned its portfolio to tackle latency and power-efficiency challenges in hyperscale environments.
Similar to Lumentum, the company recently disclosed a parallel strategic partnership with Nvidia, also including a $2bn (€1.7bn) investment and multibillion-dollar purchase commitments for advanced optics.
The collaboration targets technologies vital for future data centre architectures and supports expanding US manufacturing.
The S&P 500 inclusion recognises Coherent’s transformation and the structural demand from global AI build-outs.
Greater institutional interest and enhanced liquidity are widely expected once the rebalance takes effect. This development cements the company’s role as an indispensable partner in the infrastructure underpinning rapid advances in AI.
EchoStar
EchoStar Corporation is the outlier of the group as it is the only company being added to the S&P 500 that is not directly tied to the expansion of AI infrastructure.
The firm delivers satellite communications, video entertainment and broadband services, primarily through its DISH network operations.
The addition brings dedicated exposure to the communications sector, balancing the heavy tilt toward AI infrastructure providers in this quarterly update.
In line with its fellow entrants, EchoStar has delivered triple-digit gains over the past year, reflecting resilience in the telecom space amid broader technology shifts.
The move complements the data centre focus of the other new companies and underscores how communications continues to shape the composition of the US’ flagship equity index.
The quarterly adjustments follow a pattern of the S&P 500 evolving alongside technological shifts. While passive inflows deliver an immediate boost, the longer-term impact lies in better alignment with the sectors driving the modern economy.
