September quarter results from Apple and Facebook this week will complete what has so far been a stellar reporting period for America’s tech giants. Both Apple (judging by a 3.6% price surge on Friday) and Facebook (up 4.2%) are widely expected to join Netflix, Amazon, Alphabet (Google), Microsoft and Intel in reporting figures that top market forecasts.
Facebook reports on Wednesday, Apple the day after (its 4th quarter and 2016-17 figures).
Friday’s 2.2% surge in the Nasdaq Index to a new all time high tells us how important this giant companies are to the strength on Wall Street. Without them, the market would be lower and sliding sideways at best.
Apple shares jumped 3.6% pushing its value to more than $US842 billion, while Facebook shares rose 4.2% to nearly $517 billion. Apple shares are up nearly 35% so far this year – the S&P 500 is up just over $15%.
Friday saw Alphabet join Apple and become only the second company in US history to achieve a $US700 billion market value (and reached the valuation in a fraction of the time of predecessor Apple).
Alphabet shares 4.4% to a closing record of $US1,036 Friday. Combined with the Class C shares, the company’s market value ended at $US711 billion. It took Google’s parent company 13 years to reach the mark, while it took Apple 30. the shares are up around 30% so far this year.
But Amazon, which reported a knockout set of quarterly figures saw its shares jump by the biggest one-day percentage gain in more than two years on Friday, ending the day at a new all time high of $US1,100.95 – up a massive 13.2% or $US62 billion (more than the total valuation of the Murdoch family’s 21st Century Fox and News Corp Combined) to close at a valuation of $US529 billion.
Amazon shares are up more than 40% so far this year.
Microsoft shares also closed at a record share price on Friday – ending the day at $US83.81 Friday, pushing its market cap moved higher than $US646 billion (and over $US650 billion in intraday trading just a week after the company a week after it cracked the $US600 billion level for the first time.
Microsoft shares rose 6.4% on Friday and 9.5% on Thursday after its best ever profit – a gain of 16% in two days!
Shares in computer chip maker, Intel Corp closed at a 17-year high on Friday after their strongest session in more than three years Friday, up 7.4% and pushing the company’s value to nearly $US209 billion.
The shares closed at their highest level since the net and web boom years of November 2000. They are up 22% so far this year. Netflix, which kicked off the gains by the top techs nearly two weeks ago, saw its shares rise 4.3% on Friday and the market value jumped to $US85 billion. The shares are up 61% so far this year.
The rise in Apple shares makes Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway look very happy as Apple’s single largest shareholder.
Berkshire shares hit $US281,600 on Friday, pushing the market cap to more than $463 billion.
The shares are up more than 15% so far this year, which is about what the S&P 500 has done so far.
Third-quarter earnings season remains in high gear with 130 companies listed on the S&P 500 due to report results next week.
On the list besides Apple and Facebook are Pfizer, Kraft Heinz, Ralph Lauren, AIG, Starbucks, Yum Brands, PG&E and late on Friday (US time) Berkshire Hathaway.
Its results and those of AIG will give a better idea of the cost of the hurricanes and the two Mexican earthquakes.
