The return of tech stocks began on Friday with Apple Inc. and Microsoft Corp. of the biggest gains this week after reporting strong results and outlook quarterly.
Apple shares rose 7% on Friday, their biggest one-day gain since July 2020 after it beat expectations and demonstrated the company’s ability to navigate a difficult supply environment.
Microsoft issued a strong forecast earlier in the week, boosting investor sentiment on its cloud growth prospects.
For the week, Apple climbed 4.9% while Microsoft added 4.1%, placing them in the top 10 best performers on the Nasdaq 100 Index.
The tech-heavy benchmark gained 3.2% on Friday, the biggest one-day percentage increase since March, helping it post a weekly 0.1% increase.
Despite the positive session, tech stocks are under pressure this year amid ongoing inflation concerns and a more hawkish Federal Reserve, which has indicated some rate increases this year.
Investors remain focused on the prospect of higher rates and the impact that could have on the multiple.
“The Fed is just beginning to crack down on the market because there is still a lot of uncertainty about how it will be held going forward,” George Mateyo, chief investment officer at Key Private Bank, said in an interview. He expects more volatility in the future.
Software Jumps
Another bright area for tech is the software firms. Atlassian Corp. rose 13% this week, making it the top stock on the Nasdaq 100 after it reported second-quarter results that exceeded expectations and provided a third-quarter earnings forecast that preceded projections of analyst.
ServiceNow Inc. added. of nearly 11% this week after subscription sales jumped 30%, ahead of the analyst’s average forecast.
Chipmakers are a group of tech firms that had a severe hit this week after disappointing earnings. Despite rising 1.8% on Friday, the Philadelphia Stock Exchange Semiconductor Index fell 3.8% this week, and it posted its biggest one-day decline since March on Thursday.
This happened after Intel Corp. gave up. of a disappointing revenue prediction, which prompted a collapse in its components. The perspective of Lam Research Corp. also followed the analyst’s estimates due to supply-chain constraints.
Earnings will remain focused next week, when more marquee firms like Amazon.com Inc., Alphabet Inc., and Meta Platforms Inc. is among the reporting names.
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