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Four AI and Data Center Stocks Just Earned a Spot in the S&P 500

Posted on by Claudius

The S&P 500 just got a little more artificial — and a lot more interesting.

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    • Late Friday, S&P Dow Jones Indices announced that Vertiv Holdings (VRT), Lumentum Holdings (LITE), Coherent Corp (COHR), and EchoStar (SATS) will join the flagship index before the market opens on March 23. The four additions replace Match Group, Molina Healthcare, Lamb Weston, and Paycom — a swap that reads like a real-time snapshot of where the economy is headed.

    Three of the four new entrants are directly tied to the AI infrastructure buildout. Vertiv makes the cooling and power systems that keep data centers from melting down — literally. Its Q4 revenue hit $2.88 billion, up nearly 23% year over year, with organic orders surging a jaw-dropping 252%. The company is sitting on a $15 billion backlog and guiding for $13.25 to $13.75 billion in 2026 sales. Shares have already ripped 54% year to date and over 200% in the past twelve months. Prediction markets had Vertiv at a 71% probability of inclusion heading into the announcement.

    Lumentum and Coherent, meanwhile, are the picks-and-shovels plays of the optical networking world. These companies make the photonics products — optical circuit switches, co-packaged optics — that allow massive AI chip clusters to communicate at the speed of light. As traditional copper wiring hits its physical limits inside hyperscale data centers, optical interconnects have become the next critical bottleneck. Lumentum’s stock is up an absurd 854% over the past year, with Q4 revenue jumping 65% to $665 million. Coherent rounds out the optics duo.

    EchoStar is the wildcard — a satellite-communications and telecom company that adds connectivity infrastructure exposure to the index. While less flashy than its AI-adjacent peers, it reflects the broader theme of digital infrastructure spending that’s reshaping the market.

    Here’s why this matters for your portfolio: when stocks join the S&P 500, index funds tracking the benchmark are forced to buy shares to replicate the index. That mechanical demand creates a reliable tailwind. When AppLovin joined in September 2025, shares jumped 11.6% the next day. Robinhood popped 15.8%. Workday surged 9% after its December 2024 addition. The changes take effect March 23, giving traders a clear window to position ahead of the forced buying.

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    • The flip side is also worth watching. Match Group, Molina Healthcare, Lamb Weston, and Paycom are getting kicked out — and index fund selling pressure hit immediately. Paycom dropped 3% in after-hours trading on the news alone.

    Zoom out and the bigger picture is striking: the S&P 500 is steadily becoming an AI and infrastructure index. The companies being added build the physical backbone of artificial intelligence — cooling systems, optical networks, data center plumbing. The ones being removed? A dating app, a frozen food company, and a payroll processor. That tells you everything about where capital is flowing and where it isn’t.

    Whether you’re looking to ride the index-inclusion pop or thinking longer term about AI infrastructure as a secular theme, these four names just got the ultimate institutional stamp of approval.