Big Tech may be under siege, but its stocks are outperforming.
Shares of Facebook Inc. FB,
Google parent Alphabet Inc. GOOGL,
GOOG,
and Microsoft Corp. MSFT,
closed at record highs on Monday, with a surge in job growth in the United States last month, despite a wave of criticism of their excessive influence on the American economy and life. Nasdaq Composite Index, composed of technology,
rose 1.7%, pushing other tech names to record highs, including Oracle Corp. ORCL,
HP Inc. HPQ,
and major semiconductor equipment suppliers.
Facebook rose 3.4% to $ 308.91 per share as the social media giant continued to flourish, despite lawsuits from the Federal Trade Commission and 48 state attorneys general who claimed anti-competitive business practices, as well as its own chief financial officer’s warnings about a slowdown in digital advertising. , his vital blood. The closing price shattered the previous closing of the Facebook record of $ 303.91 on August 26, 2020.
On Saturday, a member of a low-level hacking forum posted the phone numbers and personal data of 533 million Facebook users, just the latest in a string of controversies for the social networking company. But it seems to matter a little. Indeed, Facebook’s advertising prices have risen 30% from their 2020 level since mid-March, according to research by marketing agency Aisle Rocket.
The alphabet, the subject of a lawsuit by the Department of Justice, as well as the two state AG lawsuits, increased by 4% to close at $ 2,218.96. The company benefited in part from its U.S. Supreme Court victory over Oracle in a lengthy copyright dispute over software used in Android.
For more information: The Supreme Court is on Google’s side in the $ 8 billion dispute with Oracle
Facebook and Alphabet face a number of disputes and legislation to control their considerable influence, but their stock trajectories have remained intact.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has become the lightning rod of technology for data collection practices, privacy policies and consumer microtargeting. Zuckerberg, CEO Alphabet Sundar Pichai and Twitter Inc. TWTR,
CEO Jack Dorsey has each received yet another language from House members about spreading misinformation on their extended digital platforms.
Members of Congress have vowed to pass legislation that restricts their ability to win over future competitors, as Facebook has done with Instagram and WhatsApp, as well as protect consumers. House Committee Member Jan Schakowsky (D., Ill.), Introduced a bill to combat the online sale of stolen, counterfeit and dangerous consumer products, requiring third-party vendors to be verified in online retail markets.
Microsoft, which tried antitrust control and positioned itself as the White Knight during the Big Tech reaction, improved by 2.8% to $ 249.07.
Trio of tech giants were not alone. Over a dozen technology players – including Oracle, HP, Texas Instruments Inc. TXN,
and three major chip equipment suppliers, Lam Research Corp. LRCX,
Applied Materials Inc. AMAT,
and KLA Corp. KLAC,
– reached share prices during the day on Monday, according to Dow Jones market research. Oracle, Texas Instruments, Lam Research, Applied Materials, KLA and HP all closed at records.