Magnificent seven stocks suffer from new year hangover

Their collective market capitalisation fell by some $250bn on the first trading day of 2024. What does it mean?

After roaring higher in 2023, the magnificent seven – Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, Nvidia, Tesla, Meta – have endured a difficult start to 2024.

Their collective market capitalisation fell by some $250 billion on the first trading day of 2024, one of four consecutive days where a basket of the seven stocks fell in value. A pullback isn’t unexpected, given the extent of last year’s gains (more than 100 per cent).

Still, Bank of America data shows the seven stocks are up just 9 per cent over the past two years, with last year’s stratospheric gains preceded by a brutal 2022.

Indeed, three of the seven – Google parent Alphabet, Amazon, and Tesla – “remain under water since 2021″, says BofA. The tech-heavy Nasdaq, too, remains below 2021′s highs, despite soaring per cent 54 per cent last year. Recent weakness aside, bulls would argue big tech stocks still have room to go higher.