What is the Russell 1000 Value Index and why are Alphabet and AMD leaving it?

TLDR

• Alphabet and AMD are removed from the Russell 1000 Value Index and reclassified as pure growth stocks.
• Apple and Microsoft are moving in the opposite direction, joining the value index and moving from pure growth to a mix of growth and value.
• The reconfiguration is preliminary, was completed on June 18, and goes into effect on June 29.
• About $12.2 trillion in assets are measured by the US Russell indices, making this rebalancing a major market event.
• The total market cap of the Russell 3000 jumped 29% to $75.6 trillion, with Nvidia now ranked No. 1 by market cap among US companies.

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The FTSE Russell released its initial list of index changes on May 22, kicking off the semi-annual rebalancing of the US stock indexes scheduled for June 2026.

The biggest headlines from the initial list include some of the biggest companies on the US stock market. Alphabet Appliances and Advanced Micro Devices are being removed from the Russell 1000 Value Index. This means that both companies will be reclassified as pure growth stocks.

Alphabet Inc., Google

Apple and Microsoft are moving in the other direction. Both will join the Value Index, moving from a pure growth classification to a mix of growth and value.

Micron technology Sandisk is also moving, as it was removed from the value index and added to the Russell 1000 Growth index. Continued strength in semiconductor stocks has driven the change.

Analysts had widely expected Amazon to be reclassified as purely value, given slowing revenue growth in recent years. Jefferies’ equity research team estimated in March that Amazon would be rated as “100% value.” FTSE Russell did not mention Amazon in its comments on the growth and value index.

The preliminary list will be finalized on June 18. The reconfiguration will officially take effect after the US market closes on June 29.

Why is this important to investors?

Reclassification may sound like accounting, but there is real money behind it. Approximately $12.2 trillion of investment assets are measured or invested in products that track the US Russell Indices. Any shift in ratings results in a rebalancing of activity across hundreds of ETFs and mutual funds.

Trading volume on Russell rebalancing days is historically high. In June 2025, the closing auction alone witnessed a trading volume of $217.2 billion.

The bigger picture: US market focus

The 2026 rebalancing also highlights how much the overall market will grow. The total market cap of the Russell 3000 rose from $58.4 trillion to $75.6 trillion as of the April 30 rating date, an increase of 29% year over year.

Nvidia It jumped to first place among American companies in terms of market value, after its value increased by 82.5% over the past year. Alphabet posted the strongest yearly gains among the top 10, moving from fifth to second place. Apple and Microsoft fell to third and fourth places.

Nine of the top ten companies by market capitalization maintained their positions. Walmart replaced Eli Lilly as the only new entrant on that list.

The market capitalization of all ten companies in the top ten now exceeds $1 trillion. Five of them exceed $2 trillion, and four exceed $3 trillion. This compares to only seven companies exceeding the $1 trillion mark in 2025.

The combined market value of the seven largest technology companies in the United States – Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, and Tesla – rose from $15 trillion in 2025 to $22.4 trillion, an increase of 49%.

The threshold separating large-cap Russell 1000 stocks from small-cap Russell 2000 stocks also rose 24% to $5.7 billion. Within the small-cap sector, the smallest component of the Russell 2000 had a market cap of $146.4 million, up nearly 23% from 2025.

Upward reclassifications from small caps to large caps have been done by technology and industrial sector companies.