Top 25 Stocks in the S&P 500 by Index Weight for November 2023

Apple, Microsoft, and Amazon are the top index weighted S&P 500 constituents

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Published November 01, 2023

Electronic boards displaying tickers below a large NASDAQ sign — Bloomberg / Getty Images

The Standard & Poor's 500 (S&P 500) is a leading stock market index in the United States. It represents various sectors of the stock market, consisting of 503 large-capitalization publicly traded companies. Constituent companies span various sectors and industries, making the S&P 500 a broad indicator of the overall health and performance of the U.S. economy.

Key Takeaways

The S&P 500 is a leading stock market index in the United States comprising of 500 large-cap publicly traded companies.
The index's broad exposure makes it proxy for the overall health and performance of the U.S. economy.
S&P 500 constituent stocks are selected by market cap size, financial performance, liquidity, and several other metrics.
Information technology commands the S&P 500's top sector weighting, while real estate has the lowest weighting.
Investing in the S&P 500 provides exposure to an index that has produced long-term steady returns.

The index measures the market capitalization of constituent companies, which is calculated by multiplying the stock price by the number of total outstanding shares. It's a capitalization-weighted index, meaning larger companies have a greater influence on its value. As a result, the index offers insight into the overall performance of large-cap stocks. Investors and leading fund managers often use the S&P 500 as a benchmark to rate the performance of their investments, analyse market trends, and make portfolio adjustments.

How are S&P 500 Constituent Stocks Selected?

To be included in the S&P 500, a company must satisfy the following criteria:

Must be a U.S. company.
Must have a market capitalization of $12.7 billion or more
Must have reported positive earnings over the most recent quarter as well as the last four consecutive quarters.
Must have a float-adjusted liquidity ratio (FALR) of 0.75 or greater.

The S&P 500 reconstitutes each year in June. Companies that are removed from the index are not replaced until the next annual reconstitution.

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust's top 25 constituents carry a combined index weighting of 45.14% as of Oct. 24.

Top Sectors in the S&P 500

The table below outlines the S&P 500's top sectors by weighting as of Oct. 25, 2023. Information technology, health care, financials, and consumer discretionary all command double-digits percentage weightings, while materials, utilities, and real estate all have weightings of less than 3%.

S&P 500 Sector Weighting
Sector	Weighting in the S&P 500
Information Technology	27.5%
Health Care	13.4%
Financials	12.8%
Consumer Discretionary	10.7%
Communication Services	8.9%
Industrials	8.3%
Consumer Staples	6.6%
Energy	4.7%
Materials	2.4%
Utilities	2.4%
Real Estate	2.4%

Top 25 Companies by Index Weight

The list below outlines the top 25 companies by index weight. As the S&P Global website don't disclose constituent weightings, we have used the S&P 500's proxy exchange-traded fund (ETF), the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY), to source index weightings. Although the ETF doesn't perfectly replicate the underling index, it closely matches the S&P 500's weightings.

As of Oct. 25, the largest SPY holdings by weight are:

Apple Inc. (AAPL): 7.15%
Microsoft Corporation (MSFT): 6.89%
Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN): 3.28%
NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA): 3.03%
Alphabet Inc. Class A (GOOGL): 2.31%
Alphabet Inc. Class C (GOOG): 1.99%
Meta Platforms, Inc. (META): 1.95%
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK.B): 1.73%
Tesla, Inc. (TSLA): 1.68%
UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (UNH): 1.37%
Eli Lilly and Company (LLY): 1.33%
Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM): 1.22%
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM): 1.15%
Visa Inc. (V): 1.06%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ): 1.02%
Broadcom Inc. (AVGO): 1.02%
The Procter & Gamble Company (PG): 0.99%
Mastercard Incorporated (MA): 0.90%
The Home Depot, Inc. (HD): 0.80%
Chevron Corporation (CVX): 0.78%
Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK): 0.73%
AbbVie Inc. (ABBV): 0.72%
Adobe Inc. (ADBE): 0.69%
Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST): 0.69%
Walmart Inc. (WMT): 0.65%

What's the Best Way to Invest in the S&P 500?

Investors can invest in the S&P 500 in a number of ways. The most common is through ETFs or mutual funds that track the index. These funds are issued by leading investment managers, such as State Street Global Advisors and Vanguard, and trade on exchanges like a regular stock. Those who have derivatives trading experience can gain exposure to the index through futures or options contracts. Many robo-advisors also offer S&P 500 exposure for investors seeking a passive investment strategy.

What are the Advanatges of Investing in the S&P 500?

Investing in the S&P 500 index offers several advantages. Firstly, it provides broad exposure to the U.S. equity market across many areas of the economy, helping to reduce individual stock and sector risk. Secondly, the index has historically provided steady long-term returns, outperforming most actively managed funds. Since its inception in 1993, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust has gained an average of 9.72% per year. Finally, ETFs and mutual funds make it straightforward and cost-effective for investors to gain exposure to the index through a single investment product.

What are the Disadvantages of Investing in the S&P 500?

Investing in the S&P 500 also has some downsides. The index remains vulnerable to market downturns, which can cause periods of volatility and losses, particularly for investors who have shorter investing time horizons. As the S&P 500 represents the broader stock market, investors may miss out on gains in outperforming stocks and sectors that could limit overall portfolio performance. Investors also have no control over the S&P 500's constituents, meaning underperforming companies could limit gains, especially if they carry a significant index weighting.

Bottom Line

The S&P 500 index comprises 503 large-cap publicly traded companies, acting as a proxy to the health and performance of the U.S. economy. Constituent selection is based upon factors such as market cap size, financial performance and liquidity. This means the index's top weightings are spearheaded by large tech giants like Apple, Microsoft, and Amazon. Although investors can't directly invest in the S&P 500, they can gain cost-effective exposure to the index through ETFs, mutual funds and robo-advisors.

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As of the date this article was written, the author does not own any of the above securities.

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S&P Global. "Data."
S&P Global. "S&P Dow Jones Indices Announces Update to S&P Composite 1500 Market Cap Guidelines and Results of S&P Composite 1500 Index Consultation on Market Capitalization and Liquidity Eligibility Criteria."
S&P Global. "Index Maintenance, Page 17."
State Street Global Advisors. "SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust."

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