Facebook, Apple, Google shares first tank, then bounce back
Touted as tech's top five, stocks of Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook and Amazon tanked when the Nasdaq opened on Monday morning
New Delhi: Black Monday did not spare the darlings of Silicon Valley. Top tech companies took a beating as markets slid globally. Touted as tech’s top five, stocks of Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook and Amazon tanked when the Nasdaq opened on Monday morning.
Facebook was down 12.1% to $75.62, Apple was down 10% to $95.17, Amazon slid 6.4% to $463.03, Google was down 6.58% to $572.19, while Microsoft was down 5.8% to $40.59. Even smaller tech companies like Yahoo, Paypal and Netflix were in the red. Twitter, already having one of its worst periods in the stock market (down 29% since 28 July ), fell 11%.
Tech stocks are usually overvalued and Monday’s tumble was “the kind of thing that markets should do regularly to let steam off", said Roger McNamee, co-founder of private equity firm Elevation Partners, on CNBC. McNamee pointed out that there is a strong global link between world events and market prices. “Yes, there really is a connection around the world. When things go bad in China, we don’t get a free pass," he said on the channel.
Of all the companies, Apple shares were down the least—only 2.5% after initially falling 10%. This rebound may have been due to Tim Cook’s email to CNBC television news anchor Jim Cramer reassuring shareholders. After all, China is one of Apple’s biggest market in terms of growth and if the economy suffers in China, Apple could see sales of its iPhone falling. Earlier this year, China surpassed Europe as Apple’s second-largest market, and the company continues to enjoy steady growth in iPhone sales in China.
“Growth in iPhone activations has actually accelerated over the past few weeks, and we have had the best performance of the year for the App Store in China during the last two weeks," said Cook in the email.
However, towards the end of the market close, stock prices of most of the tech majors bounced back, with investors heaving a sigh of relief as all the major indices rebounded from a steep drop at the beginning of trading. Google was down 1.5%, Microsoft 1.7%, and Facebook only 1.8%.
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