Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft stocks fall even as Wall Street claimed fresh highs last week

Wall Street investors have been moving towards value stocks in recent weeks as the US economy picks up pace and vaccination drives accelerate.
(Image: REUTERS)

Wall Street investors have been moving towards value stocks in recent weeks as the US economy picks up pace and vaccination drives accelerate. Amid the positive economic outlook, one of the most favoured trades of 2020 has taken a hit. Big tech names, collectively called the FAANGM stocks have been moving southward. In the last one week of trade, Dow Jones and the S&P 500 surged nearly 2% each while the tech-heavy NASDAQ slipped and so did most of the FAANGM stocks.

Facebook shares slipped 1.85% during the previous week. The fall came after the stock reached a high as investors reacted to the quarterly results of the company where ad revenue was surging. During the previous week, Facebook-owned WhatsApp again launched money transfer facilities in Brazil. Year to date, Facebook is still up 18%. 

The share price of Apple ended 1% lower during the previous week. The iPhone manufacturer reported strong quarterly numbers but despite that, the stock tumbled. Apple has been battling it out with Epic Games in a courtroom during the week. Jeff Bezos’ Amazon was also heading south during the week, tanking 5%. The company posted record profits during the January-March quarter as it continued to benefit from more shoppers taking the online route. Amazon has also announced that it will pause the Prime Day sale in India amid the severe second wave of coronavirus cases.

Netflix stocks were also in the red on Friday. Overall the stock price fell 1.88% during the week gone by. Heading out of the pandemic, there is a heightened expectation that Netflix will see a fall as people continue inching closer to the other normal. Year to date, Netflix share price is down 3.64%. Meanwhile, Google’s parent company, Alphabet was no different than peers. The share price of Alphabet slipped 0.7% during the week. Earlier in April, the internet behemoth continued to post strong quarterly results. So far in 2021, Alphabet has zoomed 36%.

Microsoft was the only stocks among the lot that ended with gains. The stock gained marginally and closed the week 0.11% higher. The share price of Microsoft was moving down till May 4 but started surging higher during the latter half of the week.

Despite the underperformance, CNBC’s Jim Cramer is advising investors to hold on to their big tech investments. Jim Cramer, a former hedge fund manager, believes that the big names might be out of favour now but that is temporary. “This is the year to own Facebook and Alphabet, the advertising plays,” Jim Cramer said. “Other years were better for Netflix or Amazon or Apple, so don’t assume they all deserve to trade together,” he added.