Several tech companies published their quarterly results this week. The figures show that Facebook and Google parent company Alphabet have recorded strong growth in advertising sales despite the corona crisis. Microsoft also had a good quarter.
Twitter was less successful, noting fewer new users than initially expected. As soon as this became known, the value of Twitter shares immediately dropped by 17 percent.
Apple
Due to disappointing sales of the new iPhone, the value of Apple shares declined by 5 percent. As a result, the company instantly lost over 85 billion euros of market value. However, the company did achieve higher revenue and profit than expected.
Advertising
Both Alphabet and Facebook reported a strong rise in advertising sales, despite the corona pandemic. In the case of Alphabet, this resulted in a 7 percent higher market value. Facebook, which stated that 2021 would be a difficult year due to the pandemic, lost 1 percent. Microsoft produced strong results despite the crisis.
Large tech companies holding up well
According to Reuters, the largest American companies have managed to expand their businesses and outperformed smaller rivals this year as the pandemic accelerators trends towards online shopping, video streaming and other technologies.
Amazon, for example, saw its highest quarterly profit ever and a jump in holiday sales. Still, the shares dropped by nearly 2 percent after the company forecasted higher costs due to the coronavirus.
The major tech companies are taking up an increasing share of the economy. This year, the S&P rose by about 2 percent. Without giants like Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Alphabet, it would have dropped by about 4 percent, a research note from Bespoke Investment Group suggests.
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