S&P 500

In Depth

The Standard & Poor's 500, commonly known as the S&P 500, is a market-capitalization-weighted index of 500 leading U.S. publicly traded companies. It is widely regarded as the single best gauge of U.S. large-cap equities and is often used as a proxy for the overall stock market. The index is maintained by S&P Dow Jones Indices, a division of S&P Global. Companies must meet specific criteria to be included: U.S. domicile, adequate market capitalization (generally above $14 billion), positive earnings in the most recent quarter and over the trailing four quarters, adequate liquidity, and public float of at least 50%. The index covers approximately 80% of available U.S. market capitalization. It is weighted by float-adjusted market cap, meaning larger companies like Apple, Microsoft, and Amazon have a greater influence on the index's movement. More than $15 trillion in assets are benchmarked to the S&P 500, making it the most followed equity index in the world. For executives, the S&P 500 serves as the primary benchmark for corporate performance, executive compensation targets, and retirement portfolio allocations.