- The next round of Big Tech earnings is coinciding with a milestone for the Nasdaq Composite, which has returned to record levels for the first record since February. Reopening plays saw tech stocks lag behind other sectors this year, like financials, industrials and energy, though growth names could be in for a bigger comeback as the market heads higher. "Strong breadth measures suggest stocks still may have more upside," said Jeff Buchbinder, equity strategist at LPL Financial. "While valuations are elevated, they still appear reasonable when factoring in interest rates and inflation."
Overnight, Dow futures held steady, while the Nasdaq and S&P 500 inched up 0.2% and 0.1%, respectively. Tesla (TSLA) reported a record quarterly profit after Monday's closing bell (see below), while Microsoft (MSFT) and Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) will release their Q1 results today. Apple (AAPL) and Facebook (FB) are scheduled to report tomorrow, followed by Amazon (AMZN) on Thursday, and analysts are already weighing in on the action and what to look for in the days ahead.
Technically speaking: "We did see last week the loss of short-term momentum broadly behind the likes of these mega-cap tech stocks. And I think that that tells us we could see a pullback to their breakout points, that would apply to both Alphabet and also Microsoft, both of which had nice breakouts," wrote Katie Stockton, managing director of Fairlead Strategies. "These breakouts do have bullish intermediate-term implications but in the short term, there's about 5% to maybe 8% room to 50-day moving averages so that to me is a little bit uncomfortable."
Watch guidance: "I am still heavily invested in the names like Facebook, like the Apples and all the names that I have been in. However, I am cautious and have trimmed some just because of the substantial amount of gains that I've had over time," added Kourtney Gibson, president of Loop Capital. "It's less about earnings right now in my opinion and what happened in the first quarter and more about the guidance, whether formal or informal, that we get out of these companies to help us as we look through to the third and fourth quarter of the year."
No quick judgments: "Google has had a pretty nice move. It's up 30% this year. It's really been a fantastic performer. I think there's more to go but it's the type of name that if it doesn't raise guidance, perhaps it'll pause," said Karen Firestone, CEO of Aureus Asset Management. "Just because the stock goes down 1% or 2% after they print the quarter doesn't mean you give up. It just could be that we've anticipated a lot of good news from Google over the past few weeks, and that, you know, maybe the investors have to absorb the new numbers that come out and then it can start to move again."
| TOGETHER WITH  |
|---|
|
| | Top News  Shutterstock The next round of Big Tech earnings is coinciding with a milestone for the Nasdaq Composite, which has returned to record levels for the first record since February. Reopening plays saw tech stocks lag behind other sectors this year, like financials, industrials and energy, though growth names could be in for a bigger comeback as the market heads higher. "Strong breadth measures suggest stocks still may have more upside," said Jeff Buchbinder, equity strategist at LPL Financial. "While valuations are elevated, they still appear reasonable when factoring in interest rates and inflation."
Overnight, Dow futures held steady, while the Nasdaq and S&P 500 inched up 0.2% and 0.1%, respectively. Tesla (TSLA) reported a record quarterly profit after Monday's closing bell (see below), while Microsoft (MSFT) and Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) will release their Q1 results today. Apple (AAPL) and Facebook (FB) are scheduled to report tomorrow, followed by Amazon (AMZN) on Thursday, and analysts are already weighing in on the action and what to look for in the days ahead.
Technically speaking: "We did see last week the loss of short-term momentum broadly behind the likes of these mega-cap tech stocks. And I think that that tells us we could see a pullback to their breakout points, that would apply to both Alphabet and also Microsoft, both of which had nice breakouts," wrote Katie Stockton, managing director of Fairlead Strategies. "These breakouts do have bullish intermediate-term implications but in the short term, there's about 5% to maybe 8% room to 50-day moving averages so that to me is a little bit uncomfortable."
Watch guidance: "I am still heavily invested in the names like Facebook, like the Apples and all the names that I have been in. However, I am cautious and have trimmed some just because of the substantial amount of gains that I've had over time," added Kourtney Gibson, president of Loop Capital. "It's less about earnings right now in my opinion and what happened in the first quarter and more about the guidance, whether formal or informal, that we get out of these companies to help us as we look through to the third and fourth quarter of the year."
No quick judgments: "Google has had a pretty nice move. It's up 30% this year. It's really been a fantastic performer. I think there's more to go but it's the type of name that if it doesn't raise guidance, perhaps it'll pause," said Karen Firestone, CEO of Aureus Asset Management. "Just because the stock goes down 1% or 2% after they print the quarter doesn't mean you give up. It just could be that we've anticipated a lot of good news from Google over the past few weeks, and that, you know, maybe the investors have to absorb the new numbers that come out and then it can start to move again."
   | |
| Tech Fresh updates are coming to iPhones worldwide as Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) began rolling out iOS 14.5, its new operating software that includes loads of new features. The one that's grabbing headlines is Apple's new privacy change, called App Tracking Transparency, which centers around access to unique iPhone IDs. Users will be asked by each app if they are okay with being tracked across other apps and websites, a move that could bring seismic changes to the nearly $100B mobile advertising market.
"Apps can prompt users for permission, and in Settings, users will be able to see which apps have requested permission to track so they can make changes to their choice at any time," Apple wrote in a press release.
Thought bubble: Apple has been positioning itself as a protector of digital privacy, hoping to draw users by marketing itself as a privacy-focused company. But many have been angered by the move, like Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) and Google (GOOG, GOOGL), whose business models greatly depend on monetizing eyeballs on every possible platform. Apple has been sparring with the companies over data-collection practices, both privately and publicly, with the latter arguing that it will undermine connectivity and small business, as well as free services supported by targeted advertising. Apple may also have to justify the billions of dollars a year it receives for making Google the default search engine on Safari, which likely uses the same data-gathering techniques that it has criticized.
|
|
|---|
|
|
|
EmoticonEmoticon