The biggest tech names on the market seem almost unstoppable these days.
Monday alphabet (GOOGL) – Get reportMicrosoft (MSFT) – Get report, Apple (AAPL) – Get report and Amazon (AMZN) – Get report each floated above the $ 1 trillion valuation mark for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, with Alphabet re-entering the elite tech stocks club as the Nasdaq index of heavy tech surged to a record on Monday. .
Of that group, Amazon’s shares have performed disproportionately strong, increasing 61% year-to-date due to growing demand for e-commerce in the COVID-19 pandemic. The shares traded above $ 3,000 for the first time on Monday, beating many analysts’ 12-month targets: On average, Wall Street analysts are targeting $ 2,803.75 on Amazon stocks today.
Writing in a recent note, Lloyd Walmsley of Deutsche Bank raised the bank’s target for Amazon shares to $ 3,333, a street high, writing that Amazon is the “clear winner” of COVID-related outages and, given its High customer satisfaction rating, it will continue to reap benefits even when locks decrease.
Through technology, the COVID-19 crisis has accelerated the adoption curve for digital products and services that might otherwise have taken years.
“We have had two decades of online product and service migration. And we accelerate it in a year or two, compressed over the span of two months, “Mark Mahaney, an analyst who covers Internet stocks for RBC, recently told TheStreet.
Everything from streaming and gaming to productivity tools in the cloud works during COVID-19. And Big Tech companies have captured much of that growth.
Microsoft has reported growing demand for its collaboration and communication packages, Microsoft 365. And it is rapidly generating specialized cloud offerings for a fast-growing and on-demand segment, such as virtual healthcare, in an attempt to corner segments of new and potentially lucrative markets. Microsoft closed at $ 210.70 a share on Monday at a market cap of $ 1.6 trillion.
Bogged down by antitrust and regulatory concerns, Alphabet (GOOGL) – Get report It has lagged behind its mega cap peers in terms of a percentage gain for much of this year. But the past few days have sparked speculation that Alphabet could benefit from a widespread boycott of advertisers on Facebook’s advertising platforms this quarter. Some of the unspent money could flow to YouTube if the boycott continues, Jefferies analyst Brent Thill recently wrote, among other trends working for Alphabet in the second quarter. Alphabet closed at $ 1,499.65 on Monday at a market capitalization of $ 1.02 trillion.
Apple has also shown itself to be remarkably durable, even in the face of lagging sales of the iPhone, which remains its main source of revenue.
Apple’s shares have gained 26% to date despite COVID-19’s significant disruption to its supply and demand, including the closure of factories in China earlier this year and the closure of many retail stores across the globe. world.
Apple Bulls anticipate a recovery in iPhone sales later this year among consumers in an update window, along with the launch of their iPhone 12 lineup.
Meanwhile, some analysts see a positive advantage in Apple’s growing services business.
In June, Katy Huberty, an analyst at Morgan Stanley, said Apple benefits from the “stay home” environment, with more consumers staying home and downloading apps. Based in part on strong trends in the App Store, Huberty raised its service revenue forecast for 2021 to $ 63.7 billion, representing 17.8% growth. Apple closed Monday at $ 373.85 with a valuation of $ 1.62 trillion.
Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon.com and Apple are stakes in Jim Cramer’s Action Alerts PLUS Members Club.
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