The 179 ETFs That Own SpaceX

This article mentions funds that have an issuer-initiated rating and/or track a Morningstar Index. For full disclosure information, please refer to the specific funds, which are demarcated with a * symbol, listed below.

Space Exploration Technologies Corp. SPCX made its public market debut on June 12 to much fanfare. There was more demand than shares available, helping the stock open $15 higher than its $135 IPO price and end its first day as a public company above $160. It quickly rose to a high of $225 on June 16, then fell back to earth, dipping near its IPO price the week of July 13.

Hundreds of exchange-traded funds and mutual funds bought shares of Elon Musk's space and artificial intelligence company for the first time amid these fluctuations.

SpaceX is now the cornerstone of a few ETF portfolios and a satellite position in many others. Some ETFs that own the stock might surprise you. While space-themed, technology sector, or growth ETFs are expected landing places for the $2 trillion company, it also found its way into several value ETFs, one quality ETF, a Jewish advocacy ETF, and numerous broad market index ETFs.

In total, US ETFs own around $16 billion worth of the stock across 179 products. Here are the categories where those owners are concentrated.

Expected Buyers of SpaceX

Two ETFs account for almost half of that $16 billion. Invesco QQQ Trust QQQ and its cheaper sibling, Invesco Nasdaq 100 ETF QQQM, held a 1.21% stake in SpaceX on July 10. That amounts to over 48 million shares worth over $7 billion. As one of the largest stocks listed on the Nasdaq exchange, it makes sense for these Nasdaq-100 tracking index ETFs to own sizable positions. How they got that weighting, however, is another story, which is covered in more detail here and touched on later.

Other ETFs like ARK Innovation ETF ARKK and Baron First Principles ETF RONB own sizable chunks. The managers of these active ETFs prize innovative companies, and the inclusion of SpaceX in their lineups was mostly a foregone conclusion. In fact, Baron Funds owned SpaceX in Baron First Principles ETF and other funds before it was a public company.

Elsewhere, SpaceX stock makes appearances in several ETFs covering themes from space to artificial intelligence to innovative technology. It makes the cut in a number of growth-oriented ETFs and a handful of options income ETFs, too. Across all 179, Baron First Principles ETF carries the highest weighting at over 30%, as of July 10.

Unexpected Buyers of SpaceX

Companies like SpaceX test the rules of portfolio construction. And sometimes those rules don't yield the portfolio you'd expect. Recently, Micron MU unexpectedly became a 25% position in a value ETF, for example. SpaceX also found its way into several value ETFs. The stock claims small positions in each, but its presence is surprising, given concerns with the stock's lofty market cap relative to its total sales and negative net earnings.

Negative earnings do funny things to price ratios commonly used by index funds to distinguish value stocks from growth stocks. Indexes usually employ several measures of value to avoid one outlier from bringing an otherwise growth stock into a value index, and vice versa. SpaceX seems to have slipped through some cracks.

Stocks without a clear style distinction can be partially allocated between both the Russell 1000 Value and Growth indexes. As a brand-new public company, the stock doesn't have enough data to be firmly categorized as growth or value yet, so it lands near the midpoint for now. IShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF IWF holds a 0.22% stake.

Schwab US Large-Cap Value ETF SCHV is a little different. Unlike most, the Dow Jones index it tracks uses a stock's price/earnings ratio as a component in its value scoring system. SpaceX's negative earnings skews its P/E ratio far to the value side of the board, likely resulting in its inclusion here. Other index families use the inverse, earnings/price, to sidestep this peculiarity.

As an actively managed ETF, Fidelity Enhanced Large Cap Value ETF FELV doesn't have to adhere to an index's binary rules. If its managers don't think a stock belongs in the Russell 1000 Value Index, they can remove it. Fidelity's managers haven't yet removed SpaceX from its value portfolio.

How Big Is SpaceX in Major Indexes?

Even a small position in SpaceX means a large stake in the largest index funds. Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF's VTI total fund size of nearly $2.3 trillion means that it owns over $3.2 billion worth of SpaceX shares despite its 0.14% weighting at the end of June. In total, US index ETFs hold roughly 14% of SpaceX's outstanding free-float shares, or $13.3 billion of $93.6 billion free float.

Several major broad market indexes tweaked their rules earlier this year to allow SpaceX early entry. Much ink has been spilled on the purpose and validity of these changes (including from me), but now that the dust has settled, SpaceX is a component in 82 broad market index ETFs. Still, the stock carries a very small position in most and no weight in a couple of notable bogies. Nasdaq's relatively narrow portfolio and unique weighting scheme give the stock much more attention than other widely followed index ETFs.