Amazon shares eye record high in U.S. tech boom
AMAZON shares approached an all-time high last night ahead of a bumper earnings season for Big Tech that could generate profits of more than £90bn.
Shares in the e-commerce and cloud computing behemoth rose more than 1pc to a high of $187.29 before closing at $185.19. That left Amazon within touching distance of its record close of $186.57 in July 2021. rivals including Facebook owner Meta, Microsoft and Nvidia have all hit record highs in recent weeks.
The rally comes as the so- called Magnificent Seven stocks – Alphabet, Apple, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, Tesla and Nvidia – prepare to post quarterly figures.
They are expected to post sales totalling £360bn and profits of £92bn.
The period covers the first three months of 2024 for all but Nvidia, whose first quarter is the three months to the end of April. But while the Magnificent Seven all delivered stellar returns last year, the first quarter of 2024 has seen a big divergence in fortunes.
Shares in chip designer and artificial intelligence (AI) specialist Nvidia are up some 75pc already this year
having more than tripled in value last year. By contrast, Tesla shares are down around 30pc having doubled last year.
Ahead of the looming results season, Tesla last week revealed it delivered 386,810 new cars in the three months to the end of March – down 8.5pc on the same period last year.
That was the first year-on-year drop for four years and sent shares tumbling as investors fretted over what could be a bleak set of results later this month.
Tesla’s woes have seen chief executive Elon Musk lose his position as the world’s richest man.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, he is fourth with a fortune of £143bn after being overtaken by LVMH boss Bernard Arnault on £177bn, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos with £164bn and now Mark Zuckerberg, whose wealth hit £148bn following a near- sixfold rise in Meta’s share price in 18 months. Dan Ives, at Wedbush Securities said: ‘ Big Tech is flexing its muscles as the strong get stronger with another robust earnings season.’