NASDAQ surged up above 10,000 – Tech stocks setting a new benchmark

With COVID-19 outbreak, stock price performance worldwide gave an impression of being banged hard with a hammer. March was the historic month that witnessed a stumbled financial market, damaged by a crashed market by mid-month.

Despite the horror stories of the pandemic in the past few months, Nasdaq Composite index demonstrated a perfect rebound post hitting the lowest point, it rallied to a record high of 10002.5 points, on 9 June 2020 intraday, closing at 9,953.75 points.

Also, by the end of the trading session, the index surpassed the10,000 mark and was at 10,020.35 points, moving up by 0.67%, on 10 June 2020. The recovery of the index reflects the probable path of businesses picking up the positive momentum; thus, bolstering the positive outlook of the investors.

Let’s discuss the group of big US technology stocks popular as FAANG stocks, which were key winners of this burgeoning trend.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) saw an upswing in its stock price on 10 June 2020, closing the trading session at USD352.84, up 2.57% from its previous close. The Company has delivered a return of 12.02% in the duration of past one month to its shareholders, is now all set to kick start its Worldwide Developers Conference on 22 June 2020 virtually, for the first time.

Apple’s quarterly report for the period ending 28 March 2020 reported robust revenue primarily, due to the increased sales in its services and wearable segment. The net sales in the services segment were noted at USD13,348 million and that for wearables, home and accessories were USD6,284 million.

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Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG,GOOGL), the parent company of Google witnessed an increase of 0.87% (Class A stock) and closed at USD1,464.7 on 10 June 2020. The Company delivered a return of 4.35% during the period of last one month to shareholders.

Moreover, Alphabet reported a solid performance during the quarter ended 31 March 2020, with an increase of 13% y-o-y in its revenue, which stood at USD41,159 million.

Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) that connects people worldwide witnessed a jump of over 3.14% in its share price and stood at USD238.67 on 9 June 2020. However, on 10 June 2020, the stock ended the day in red, decreasing by 0.81% from its previous close to be at USD236.73. FB has delivered a one month return of 11.04% to shareholders.

The social media giant with its family of apps such as WhatsApp and Instagram has moved into virtual shopping space called Facebook Shops. This online shopping space was launched on 19 May 2020 in the US, primarily to act as life support to save the small businesses from demise during the COVID-19 period. Further, post absorption of these shops it will be interesting to see how the advertising revenues will be unleashed for the social giant.

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American multinational technology giant Amazon.com, Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN), focuses on e-commerce, digital streaming, cloud computing and AI. The Company reported an increase of 1.79% in its share price, and stood at USD2,647.45, with a market cap of USD1.32 trillion, as on 10 June 2020. AMZN delivered a return of 9.89% in last one-month timeframe to its shareholders.

Since the demand for e-commerce has been exceptionally strong amid COVID-19, it will be interesting to watch AMZN’s boosted revenue in Q2 results. Lately, Amazon has been in talks to buy AMC Theatres, whose business was at stake due to COVID-19.

The Amazon-owned movie theatres will be the next step in the consolidation of the entertainment industry. Interestingly, shares of struggling AMC Theatres rose by 56%, touching the day’s high at USD6.41, on 11 May 2020 after a report circulated that Amazon held talks with the movie chain over a potential takeover.

Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX), a global internet entertainment service provider, share price moved up 0.099% and was at USD434.48, as on 10 June 2020. The leading streaming services provider, with the market cap of USD191.09 billion (as on 10 June 2020), delivered a monthly negative return of 1.37% to its shareholders.

The online streaming apps have witnessed a boom in its usage to fray boredom and anxiety during the COVID-19 period. NFLX has noted robust revenue of USD5767.69 million for the quarter ended 31 March 2020.

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Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), provider of various cloud-based services and software through its tools and platforms noted a rise of 3.71% to USD196.84 in its share price, as on 10 June 2020.

MSFT has accelerated the digital transformation in Aotearoa, with the establishment of its first data center in New Zealand to deliver enterprise-grade cloud services. Also, the Company would make an investment of USD1.5 billion to speed up the digital transformation in Italy.

The Software giant reported the revenue of USD35.0 billion, an increase of ~15.6% y-o-y during the quarter ended 31 March 2020, bolstered by the growth of 39% y-o-y to stand at USD 13.3 billion, in the cloud revenue.

A few WAAAX stocks that have been the primary movers of the Australian technology sector are rallying on the boosted performance of Nasdaq.

BNPL pioneer Company Afterpay Limited (ASX:APT) stock was up by 7.535% and stood at AUD 54.520, as on 10 June 2020. However, on 11 June 2020, APT was trading at AUD 51.91, decreasing by 4.787% (at AEST 2:35 PM).

APT has crossed the milestone of active shoppers in the United States, with over five million active shoppers in the month of May 2020. Furthermore, APT made changes in the Board members to stay strong with the transition of Elana Rubin from interim Chair to Chair of the Company’s Board. Also, with effect from 1 June 2020, Sharon Rothstein started working as an Independent Non-Executive Director to the Company.

Post bottoming out at AU$8.90 on 23 March, the stock of APT bounced back to AU$52.260, as on 3 June 2020.

The provider of online accounting software for small businesses, Xero Limited (ASX:XRO) noted an increase of 3.899% in its share price and stood at AU$85.000 on 10 June 2020. However, on 11 June 2020, XRO was trading at AUD 83.900, down by 1.294% (at AEST 2:45 PM), with a PE ratio of 3,679.65x. XRO has delivered a return of 2.48% in the period of one month to shareholders.

On 4 June 2020, Xero released new search functionality on its app marketplace and introduced new tax and compliance tools in collaboration with Coveo. Xero noted a robust business performance for the full year earnings till 31 March this year, with an increase of 30% y-o-y in its operating revenue and an increase of 88% y-o-y in its EBITDA to AUD 137.7 million.

A global software Company, Altium Limited (ASX:ALU) share price stood at AU$34.050, up by 0.265% by the market closure on 10 June 2020. However, on 11 June 2020, ALU was trading at AUD 33.78, decreasing by 0.793% (at AEST 2:55 PM). ALU has a market cap of AUD 4.46 billion and has over 130.97 million outstanding shares.

ALU has a robust balance sheet with a cash balance of more than USD77 million. The financially strong company has launched an attractive pricing, and extended payment terms with an aim to drive volume in challenging market conditions and has also ramped up the introduction of its new digital online sales capability.

Zip Co Limited (ASX: Z1P) growing robustly on the increasing popularity of buy now pay later (BNPL) solutions and witnessed a jump of 15.78% in its share price on 9 June 2020 after it announced a partnership with Neobank 86 400.