"Seven Giants" face a difficult start in 2024, with Apple leading the way in a $383 billion tech stock collapse.
Apple's stock price decline has led to a decrease in market value of $383 billion, and the seven tech giants have had a difficult start in 2024. Investors have doubts about the sustainability of the rebound in 2023 and are considering the Federal Reserve's ability to achieve a soft landing for the US economy. At the beginning of this year, Apple's stock price was under pressure and Barclays Bank downgraded its rating to "sell".
Zhitong App Note: The outlook for large-cap tech stocks that boosted the market last year is not so optimistic at the start of 2024.
The "Big Seven," including Apple (AAPL.US), Amazon (AMZN.US), Alphabet (GOOGL.US), Microsoft (MSFT.US), Meta (META.US), Tesla (TSLA.US), and NVIDIA (NVDA.US), have all experienced declines in the past four trading days. According to Bloomberg M7's price return index, this is the longest consecutive decline in a month. During this period, Apple's stock price fell by 4.6%, leading to a market value loss of $383 billion. The Nasdaq 100 index also experienced a decline in the past four trading days.
"We don't know if last year's upward trend has completely ended, but it is completely normal to see the market pull back after a rally," said Steve Sosnick, Chief Strategist at Interactive Brokers Group. "If there are no end-of-year catalysts driving the rally, I think we are seeing the celebration gradually coming to an end."
This is a signal that investors' doubts about the sustainability of the rebound in 2023 are justified. Although the group soared over 100% last year, driven by the frenzy of artificial intelligence, concerns about the Federal Reserve's ability to achieve a soft landing for the U.S. economy may mean that the interest rate cut is lower than expected, and the momentum in the second half of 2023 may cool down.
Sosnick said, "If a worse scenario than a soft landing occurs, we won't see double-digit or high single-digit profit growth," "But we can't achieve six interest rate cuts in a soft landing scenario."
At the beginning of this year, some members of the group also faced specific stock pressures. Apple's stock price came under pressure and fell after encountering a new bear market; earlier this week, Barclays analysts downgraded Apple's stock rating to "underweight," citing their expectation of weak future demand for iPhones.
Tesla's stock price has fallen by 8.8% in the past four days, marking the longest consecutive decline in over four weeks. Although Tesla's data released on Tuesday showed that fourth-quarter electric vehicle sales exceeded analysts' expectations, the company lost its position as the top-selling electric vehicle brand to China's BYD.
Of course, it may still be too early to say that the rally focused on tech stocks has ended. Most of the gains in 2023 made up for the losses from a year ago, and the stock prices of some companies, including Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, and Tesla, are still below their historical highs, indicating that they may have room for further growth.However, the biggest tech companies also have their own work to do in 2024. Sosnick believes that both companies need to not only continue providing reliable technology, but also continue providing profitable technology.
He said, "Last December, everyone bought into it." "Now we need to see if the steak tastes good."