Big Five tech giants lose $2.5trn in stock value

By Onome Amuge

The world’s largest tech companies suffered  a series of disappointing results in 2022 as the stock prices of the ‘Big 5’ consisting of Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta all stumbled, losing an estimated $2.5 trillion in their market values.

Data published by Trading Platforms, show that social media giant,Meta suffered the heaviest knock among the big five as its stock value declined 70 per cent year-to-date. This did not come as a surprise to many though as reports show that investors had registered their concerns about Meta’s rising costs and expenses for some time.

Analysts further noted that Meta’s move to the Metaverse dragged down profit, as the company lost $9.4 billion in the nine months of 2022. Profits also dropped by 52 per cent in the third quarter despite  climbing  19 per cent YoY to $22.1 billion. The company’s operating income also plunged 46 per cent from the previous year to $5.66 billion.

According to market analysis of the company’s performance, the rising costs and shrinking profits led to more than 11,000 layoffs, or 13 per cent of Meta’s workforce, causing its stock value to dive by $750bn since the beginning of the year which is more than the loss of any other major tech company.

According to YCharts data, Meta’s market cap stood at $307bn as at the second week of December 2022, down from $1.05 trillion in January 2022.

Amazon emerged the second biggest loser in stock value decline as the e-commerce giant narrowly missed sales expectations for the third quarter. Prior to the plunge, Amazon’s guidance for the holiday quarter predicted a significant slowdown in year-over-year sales growth. Following the announcement,the company’s stock value plummeted to its lowest level since early 2020 and down 45 per cent for the year. Though Amazon recorded a slight recovery afterwards, it still lost $509 billion or 35 per cent of its stock value in 2022.

Apple, Microsoft, and Alphabet were also not left out of the losing trend as the trio recorded losses worth hundreds of billions of dollars.

In October 2022, Alphabet reported its lowest quarter-over-quarter growth since 2013, bar the period early in the Covid-19 pandemic. Its revenue growth slowed to 6 per cent from 41 per cent a year before as the company suffered a continuous  drop in online ad spending. Also, its stock value was down $470bn or 28 per cent year-to-date, the third-largest decline among the big five global tech giants.

On its part, Microsoft lost $526bn or 22 per cent of its stock value in 2022, emerging the fourth biggest loser.

On the other hand, Apple recorded the smallest market cap drop of all five companies as its stock value fell by $270 billion or 10 per cent in 2022.

Overall, the YCharts data show the five tech giants have collectively lost more than $2.5 trillion in stock value year-to-date.