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JUST HOW CRAZY WERE some of last week’s market moves? The Wall Street Journal detailed how Amazon.com (symbol: AMZN) recorded the biggest-ever one-day market cap gain in stock market history. The largest company in the consumer discretionary sector was valued $191.3 billion higher after posting better-than-expected earnings Thursday evening.
Amazon’s monster move came just a day after Meta Platforms (FB) notched the single-biggest market cap decrease in market history. More widely known as Facebook, the social media giant shed $232 billion in market cap after posting its first drop in daily users in its 18-year history.
These unsettling shifts among the world’s most valuable companies had their impact on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon and owner of 10% of outstanding shares, surged to the No. 2 spot on the list, behind Tesla’s Elon Musk. Mark Zuckerberg has seen his net worth decline by more than $36 billion so far this year. The Meta CEO barely hangs on to his place among the top 10, with a net worth now under (gasp) $90 billion.
Amazon and Meta shares weren’t the only ones moving and shaking last week. Post-earnings stock price volatility occurred among other large tech-related firms, including PayPal (-25%), Spotify (-17%), Alphabet (-8%) and Snap (+59%). Day traders were surely downing a few drinks after a stressful week. More earnings are on tap over the balance of the month.
Index fund investors and those focused on the long term are resting easier. Last week, the S&P 500 was up nearly 2%, while ex-U.S. markets again fared well. Developed nations slightly outpaced the U.S., while emerging markets rallied almost 3%.
Looking ahead, earnings continue to roll in, but the focus will undoubtedly be on the Consumer Price Index report on Thursday morning. Some experts are betting that this month and next could see “peak inflation.”
About 27% of the S&P 500 consists of seven tech stocks: Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Tesla, Nvidia, and Facebook. Last week, the rise in Amazon offset the fall in Facebook. When interest rates go up, all seven stocks might fall – then the S&P index fund holders might feel considerable pain.
It’s interesting that the junk peaked one year ago this week. Unprofitable small caps, high-flying tech, emerging markets. And rates have already risen considerably. With convexity, the move in rates from 1.3% to 1.9% impacts valuation more than a move from 1.9% to 2.5%. The question is: How much is now priced in? Also, AAPL, MSFT, GOOGL are almost like their own sector/style now since they have strong balance sheets and are quite different from a lot of non-profitable tech.