MicroStrategy’s inclusion in the Nasdaq-100 is a significant milestone, but the real opportunity may lie in the company’s potential future addition to the S&P 500, according to a report from Benchmark published on Monday.

The company, which was founded by Michael Saylor, is set to join the Nasdaq-100 on December 23, an announcement made last Friday. Although MicroStrategy meets the necessary market cap and trading volume requirements for inclusion in the S&P 500, it still needs to address two key criteria, the report notes.

MicroStrategy must demonstrate positive earnings for the most recent quarter, as well as positive earnings for the trailing four consecutive quarters. However, the company is preparing to adopt new guidelines from the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) for accounting bitcoin held on its balance sheet by the first quarter of 2025. This move would enable the company to report positive earnings, making it a strong contender for inclusion in the S&P 500.

MicroStrategy’s Nasdaq-100 inclusion will make it the 40th largest company in the index, with a 0.47% weighting. This is a noteworthy achievement, especially considering that the company will be added to the Invesco QQQ Trust Series ETF, one of the largest ETFs by assets under management (AUM), which tracks the performance of the Nasdaq-100.

According to VettaFi, the three largest ETFs in the world by AUM—the SPDR S&P 500 (SPY), Vanguard S&P 500 (VOO), and iShares Core S&P 500 (IVV)—all focus on S&P 500 companies, with a combined AUM of over $1.8 trillion.

The potential impact of MicroStrategy’s eventual inclusion in the S&P 500 could be significant. A parallel can be drawn to the case of Tesla, which saw its stock price surge after being added to the S&P 500 on December 21, 2020. Tesla’s stock price nearly doubled from $200 to $400 over the following year, with most of the growth occurring prior to its S&P 500 inclusion. This suggests that MicroStrategy could experience similar gains, especially before it is officially added to the benchmark index.