Saul Loeb | AFP | fake pictures
Stock futures rose Thursday night, preparing Wall Street to end the week on a high note as some of the biggest tech stocks (Facebook, Amazon, Alphabet and Apple) reported quarterly results that exceeded high expectations.
Nasdaq 100 futures were trading 1.2% higher. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures gained 237 points, or 0.9%. S&P 500 futures were up 0.8%.
Apple reported an explosive quarter, with total sales expanding by 11%. Apple also announced a 4-for-1 stock split.
“Apple’s earnings report was impressive,” said Andrew Smith, chief investment strategist, Delos Capital Advisors. “Double-digit revenue growth over a quarter that saw most of the shutdown of the United States economy is remarkable. This earnings report shows that Apple is firing on all cylinders. Apple’s actions crossed the symbolic threshold. $ 400 a share in after-hours trading, fueled by a four-for-one stock split, which was the icing on the cake for investors. “
Meanwhile, Amazon traded 5.3% more as the company saw its sales soar during the coronavirus pandemic. Facebook shares rebounded more than 7% after the bell, as the social media giant posted 11% revenue growth, even amid the slowdown in the coronavirus pandemic. The company also issued stronger-than-expected sales guidance for the current quarter.
Google-parent Alphabet also posted better-than-expected results, increasing the stock by 0.4%. Stock performance declined relative to Big Tech’s other names as the company’s overall revenue declined in its history. Google Cloud revenue was also below analyst expectations.
“The numbers were surprising relative to expectations,” said Peter Boockvar, chief investment officer at Bleakley Advisory Group. “We will see after their conference calls what has been valued and what has not.”
With those gains, it was established that the four stocks would add around $ 200 billion to their total market capitalization, bringing it to more than $ 5 trillion.
Big Tech has been the staunch on Wall Street this year. Amazon and Apple increased 65.2% and 31%, respectively, in 2020. Facebook and Alphabet have increased more than 14% in that time period.
The Dow and S&P 500 fell on Thursday after the United States government released data showing the largest quarterly contraction in gross domestic product registered in the country. The Dow fell more than 200 points and the S&P 500 ended the day with a 0.4% drop. US GDP contracted 32.9% in the second quarter, overcoming a record decline since mid-1921.
– CNBC’s Patti Domm contributed to this report.
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