NEW YORK, June 18, 2026, 18:03 EDT
- Flex finished the session at $147.61, up close to 3%. About 80.7 million shares changed hands.
- S&P Dow Jones Indices is putting Flex into the S&P 500 before the open on June 22. Flex will drop out of the S&P MidCap 400.
- Nasdaq’s U.S. equity calendar lists markets shut on June 19 for Juneteenth, so Thursday is the last full trading day before the switch.
Flex Ltd. finished up on Thursday, ahead of its addition to the S&P 500 following the Juneteenth market break. Investors moved in before index funds adjusted their portfolios. U.S. stocks rallied, with the Nasdaq gaining 1.91% and the S&P 500 rising 1.08%, according to Reuters market data.
Flex and Marvell Technology are set to join the S&P 500 before the open on Monday, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices. Flex will be dropped from the S&P MidCap 400. The moves are part of the quarterly rebalance that updates index lists.
Index moves can move prices just through the mechanics. Passive funds pegged to the S&P 500 have to follow the index by buying shares of companies as they join and selling names as they drop out, usually close to the change. Reuters reported this forced buying can push up shares of companies when they enter the S&P 500.
Flex is pitching its S&P 500 debut as bigger than just trading. CEO Revathi Advaithi called it a “landmark milestone” and said the addition backs up Flex’s transformation and growth plan. Flex Investor Relations
Investors are betting on Flex’s shift. The company, better known for electronics assembly and supply chain, is picking up attention as a component supplier for AI data centers. Power, cooling, and hardware needs are driving that. Flex employs around 150,000 people at more than 100 sites in about 30 countries.
Flex made a bigger move in May, telling markets it plans to spin off its Cloud and Power Infrastructure segment as a separate public company. That spin-off would break out the business into its own listed firm. Flex said Advaithi is set to run the new company, while Michael Hartung will take over as CEO of what remains of Flex. The company is aiming for the deal to close in the first quarter of 2027.
Flex turned in fourth-quarter net sales of $7.5 billion. Full-year fiscal 2026 net sales came in at $27.9 billion. For fiscal 2027, the company set guidance at $32.3 billion to $33.8 billion, before counting the planned spin-off.
Flex set ambitious targets for SpinCo after the planned split. The company is guiding for SpinCo to lift revenue 65% to 75% in fiscal 2027 and top 80% growth in fiscal 2028. The rest of Flex is seen growing at a low-to-mid-single-digit rate. Hartung said the business left after the spinoff was “well positioned.” Flex Investor Relations
Marvell is getting added to the S&P 500 on Monday too, but it trades more in AI chips and data centers than in direct manufacturing. The read-across for closer peers was mixed Thursday. Jabil and Celestica dropped. TTM Technologies gained. That points to Flex’s move being about the index inclusion, not a sector-wide lift for contract manufacturers.
Barclays put out an Overweight on Flex with a $203 target on June 4, according to Benzinga data, which shows how fast analysts have shifted. The Benzinga list shows Freedom Capital Markets and Goldman Sachs as more recent ratings, too.
Still, risks are in play. Index-related buying can just pull demand forward without building lasting value. Flex has cautioned the spin-off might not close as planned, may run over budget, or miss its expected targets. If AI data center spend falls back or if ramp-up and capex come in higher, the valuation case looks shakier.
The market is backing a simpler pitch for now: an upcoming S&P 500 name with AI energy and cooling exposure, rather than just a slim-margin assembler. The key test hits after Monday as passive buying slows. That’s when investors will focus on orders, margins, and spin-off filings driving the shares.
