Tech Leads the Way Into 2021 – What are FAANG stocks?

As technology continues to develop at breakneck speed, the chaos of 2020 created an even greater trend towards the use of technology with the rise of the stay-at-home culture. With streaming services becoming even more popular and people spending more time online for work, shopping and entertainment, this has caused a shift in the stock markets as well. As the world grows more reliant on technology, this sector of the market boomed in 2020, particularly for the stocks belonging to the five most prominent US technology companies which go by the collective name FAANG. The companies included in FAANG are Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Google (Alphabet). FAANG stocks were hot property last year, outperforming the S&P 500, as they averaged a 58% price return, while the S&P 500 had an 18.4% return. Alphabet grew by 31%, the lowest of the group, while Apple stock prices were up by a huge 81%. Now that we’re well into 2021, let’s see what’s happening with the hot tech stocks that were making waves in 2020. If you’re about to invest in CFD stocks of these or other tech companies, keep reading.

FAANG stocks in 2021

In the social media realm, Facebook is simply a star performer, as the company reported a 22% increase in revenue last year, while the amount of daily active users grew to 1.84 billion, an increase of 11%. Facebook has extended its product offerings to include WhatsApp, Instagram, and Oculus, which makes it one of the most valuable companies in the world. Facebook’s market value sits at around $848 billion, and in 2020 the social media goliath experienced a 33.1% increase in total returns. The company had a swift 5.4% growth in share prices after it announced its successful Q1 performance for 2021. At the time of writing, Facebook stock was trading at a price of $306.94, and as more people around the world are using the social media behemoth’s services during the pandemic, so the company reaps the rewards.

Apple is taking a bite out of the financial markets, with its 2.9% increase in stock prices, thanks to the company exceeding quarterly expectations so far in 2021. The tech giant is ranked as one of the most valuable brands on the planet, and in January Apple reported all-time record revenue of $111.4 billion for the quarter, which was an increase of 21% year-on-year. At the time of writing, Apple stock was trading at $134.01, and shares are up by 1.4% so far this year. Luca Maestri, Apple’s CFO, explains their recent success: “Our December quarter business performance was fuelled by double-digit growth in each product category, which drove all-time revenue records in each of our geographic segments and an all-time high for our installed base of active devices.”

One of the most well-known names in the e-commerce sector is Amazon. However, Amazon’s cloud computing, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence branches are a large part of the reason why the company has stayed relevant and continues to go from strength to strength. The Wall Street predictions for Amazon this year include a huge 38.5% increase in revenue, year-on-year. Since the onset of the pandemic, Amazon sales and profits have seen some of the largest gains in the tech industry. Amazon is the third-largest public traded company across the globe, and the company is currently trading at around $3400. However, Amazon shares are the lowest-performing out of the FAANG group so far in 2021, with a meager 5% increase so far this year.

Netflix was one of the biggest successes from the stay-at-home culture shift in 2020, with a total of over 36 million new subscribers added to the already popular streaming platform. The company’s revenue for 2020 rose to $25 billion, which was an increase of 24%. Not only that, Netflix has announced that the company doesn’t need to generate external capital to fund its day-to-day operations, and will begin reducing its debt by using cash from operations. However, Netflix stocks have dropped 7% so far this year, as the stay-at-home culture shift reverts slightly.

Alphabet simply smashed Wall Street estimates when the company released its Q1 earnings report, and stocks surged to all-time highs thereafter. So far this year, Alphabet’s revenue has leaped up to $55.3 billion, which is a 34% increase from this time last year. These sales can mainly be attributed to the Google search engine, however, YouTube advertising is also becoming a big contributor, bringing in $6 billion in revenue for the company. At the time of writing, GOOGL stock was trading at $2,390.48. Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai explains the company’s recent success by saying how the pandemic has increased the use of the Google search engine, “We see hundreds of millions of searches every day for COVID and related health information. People are also searching for jobs. To help them, job seekers can now use search to quickly and easily find roles that do not require a college degree. We are working together with top employment websites to make this service even better.”

Invest in CFD stocks of FAANG companies

This year’s performance of FAANG stock companies such as Facebook and Netflix have boosted their popularity, both in a cultural sense as well as financial, giving those who invest in CFD stocks both opportunities and risks. CFDs or Contracts For Difference allow you to take advantage of price movements in both directions—increases as well as decreases—of a variety of financial instruments like shares of FAANG companies, without having to purchase the underlying asset (in this case any actual shares). Therefore, if you invest in CFD stocks, it’s worth keeping an eye on the latest news and market developments to stay ahead of the markets and make more informed trading decisions.

In addition to FAANG stock company shares, CFD brokers will also provide access to a variety of other financial instruments such as commodities, indices, ETFs, foreign currency pairs, and cryptocurrencies. Before you sign up with a broker, do your homework and investigate if that broker offers the selection of instruments you’re after as well as the trading tools and features you require. That way, you can trade CFDs with knowledge and confidence.