To be included in the Russell 3000 index, companies must meet certain minimum share price and free float requirements — and these criteria for inclusion extend to the Russell 2000 index. The Russell 2000’s components are updated at the end of June each year, and companies that are either too big or too small are removed from the index. The Russell 2000 is a market cap-weighted index, as are the majority of popular stock indexes — the Dow Jones Industrial Average being the main exception.
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The index recorded a dividend-adjusted total return of 90.5% across the decade-long period. With that in mind, here’s a rundown of what investors should know about the Russell 2000 index, how it works, and whether it could be a smart investment choice. For the major indices on the site, this widget shows the percentage of stocks contained in the index that are above their 20-Day, 50-Day, 100-Day, 150-Day, and 200-Day Moving Averages. The information below reflects the ETF components for Russell 2000 Ishares ETF (IWM). Market indices reached historic highs following Donald Trump’s presidential victory in November 2024, but the outlook for 2025 is clouded by new trade policies that could impact business confidence and growth.
Instead, here are 10 of the largest Russell 2000 companies, just to give you an idea of the types of companies that make up the index. Please log in to your account or sign up in order to add this asset to your watchlist.
Indices
An index collects data from a variety of companies across industries. Together, that data forms a picture that helps investors compare current price levels with past prices to calculate market performance. The Russell 2000 is an index of 2,000 small-cap companies that was first launched in 1984. It is widely used as a benchmark for U.S. small-cap stocks. The index comprises 2,000 of the smallest companies in the Russell 3000, which itself covers roughly 98% of the stocks publicly traded in the U.S.
Russell 2000 ETF Components
The Russell 2000 is rebalanced every June, and companies are added, deleted, or kept. Many investors compare small-cap mutual funds’ movements against the index’s movement. The key methodology for determining the components of the Russell 2000 involves selecting the 2,000 smallest companies by market capitalization from the Russell 3000 index.
The smallest 1,000 companies in the Russell 2000 make up the Russell 1000 Microcap Index. The Russell 2000 is itself composed of the two-thousand smallest companies in the broader Russell 3000 Index. As of FTSE Russel’s index factsheet dated March 31, 2024, the index’s top three holdings were Super Micro Computer (SMCI), Microstrategy (MSTR), and Comfort Systems USA (FIX). It is highest weighted in industrials, followed by healthcare, then financials.
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Created in 1896, it is one of the oldest stock indexes, and its performance is widely considered a useful indicator of the health of the entire U.S. stock market. Founded in 1993, The Motley Fool is a financial services company dedicated to making the world smarter, happier, and richer. The Russell 2000 index, sometimes abbreviated as Russell 2K, is the most widely used index of small-cap stocks — those with a relatively small market capitalization. The Russell 2000 index, sometimes abbreviated Russell 2K, is the most widely used index of small-cap stocks, or those with a relatively small market capitalization. There are no hard-and-fast rules for when a stock is a small cap. The Motley Fool reaches millions of people every month through our premium investing solutions, free guidance and market analysis on Fool.com, top-rated podcasts, and non-profit The Motley Fool Foundation.
- For example, the Russell 2000 growth index is designed to gauge how small-cap growth stocks are performing.
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- That’s the key difference between the Russell 2000 and the “headline” indexes.
- The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) indices, on the other hand, track large-cap stocks.
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The index is the most widely quoted measure of the overall performance of small-cap to mid-cap stocks. It represents approximately 7% of the total Russell 3000 market capitalization and is made up of the bottom two-thirds in terms of company size of the Russell 3000 index. The larger index reflects the movements of nearly 96% of all publicly traded U.S. stocks. It’s no surprise that many funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) mirror or are based on the Russell 2000. A stock market index shows how investors feel an economy is faring.
One good example is the Vanguard Russell 2000 ETF (VTWO -1.55%), which invests in all the stocks in the index according to their relative weights. With a small (0.10%) expense ratio, the ETF’s fees are low, and its long-term performance should be virtually identical to the index. Conversely, the Russell 2000 value index comprises hundreds of value stocks from the index. It’s also worth noting that many Russell 2000 stocks are included in both subindexes. As of May 2025, 1,423 stocks were in the Vanguard Russell 2000 Value ETF (VTWV -1.03%) and 1,125 in the Vanguard Russell 2000 Growth ETF (VTWG -1.32%).
Stocks
- The histogram shows where the open and last price fall within that range.
- In a nutshell, the Russell 2000 comprises smaller and more volatile stocks than those in large-cap indexes.
- To be included in the Russell 3000 index, companies must meet certain minimum share price and free float requirements — and these criteria for inclusion extend to the Russell 2000 index.
This means that the 2,000 companies that comprise the index don’t contribute equally to its performance. Larger companies have a proportionally greater impact than smaller ones. The index’s returns can be replicated by investors who take the trouble to create a sizeable and complex portfolio that mirrors the index.
Richardson Electronics’s stock price of $10.39 implies a valuation ratio of 14.6x forward P/E. If you’re considering RELL for your portfolio, see our FREE research report to learn more. Read our free research report to see why you should think twice about including PANL in your portfolio, it’s free. Get stock recommendations, portfolio guidance, and more from The Motley Fool’s premium services. Mondee Holdings was the smallest company included in the Russell 2000 index as of June 15, 2025. The stock had lost virtually all of its value over the last year, but it was still included because the annual reconstitution of the index had not taken place yet.
The table below highlights a breakdown of the index by industry. The Russell 2000 Index was launched in 1984 by the Frank Russell Company. It is a U.S. index managed by FTSE Russell, a subsidiary of the London Stock Exchange (LSE) Group. The index finished at 2,125 on Thursday, its highest closing level since January 2022. The takeaway is that while these aren’t exactly tiny enterprises, they aren’t giant companies either. That’s the key difference between the Russell 2000 and the “headline” indexes.