Now that they have finally recouped the losses from the pandemic sell-off and hit new record highs, there is little doubt about the strength of the US market's recovery.
Stocks have been major beneficiaries of the relaxed monetary policy of the US central bank that has kept interest rates at historic lows to combat the pandemic-induced downturn since March. Fed officials are generally expected to remain moderate when they meet next week.
The Fed will hold its annual Jackson Hole symposium starting Thursday when Chairman Jerome Powell will discuss the implications for monetary policy and the expected revision of the Fed's policy framework.
The S&P 500 added 0.7% over five days, completing its fourth consecutive weekly profit. It surpassed the all-time high of Feb. 19 on Tuesday to cap the bear market's fastest recovery in history. Below are the three largecap technology stocks that we will be watching over the next week: two have played a major role in pushing the broader index to new heights; the third reports earnings during the week.
1. Apple
After finishing a big week in which market capitalization crossed the $ 2 trillion mark, Apple (NASDAQ 🙂 investors are getting a 4- for-1 share on the stock after the close of trading on August 24.
Shareholders will receive three additional shares for each shares they currently own. Post-split trading starts on August 31st.
The move aims to make the stock more affordable to a wider base of investors, after the iPhone maker's stock rose 134% over the past year, rebounding strongly from the March pandemic sell-off.
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Apple closed Friday at $ 497.48 with a market cap of $ 2.12 trillion, making it the first company to reach that milestone. This is the fifth stock split for Apple's stock since the company went public in 1980.
The last split took place in 2014. Previous AAPL splits took place in 1987, 2000 and 2005.
2. Amazon
Amazon.com (NASDAQ 🙂 Stocks could see some activity in the coming week following the realignment of the company's management team. Amazon appointed its logistics head, Dave Clark, as CEO of its retail business on Friday after Jeff Wilke, a longtime lieutenant of founder Jeff Bezos, announced he is.
Clark, who is 47, will lead the Worldwide Consumer unit, a group responsible for Amazon's e-commerce empire, including the retail website and the growing logistics operations that stock and deliver items. At the same time, Andy Jassy was named CEO of Amazon Web Services' cloud computing division.
According to Bloomberg, Wilke was widely regarded as a potential successor to Bezos, so his imminent retirement will come as a surprise to Amazon viewers.
In an email to employees, Bezos also announced three new members of the S team, the group of about two dozen senior leaders who set business priorities alongside the CEO.
These are Alicia Boler Davis, vice president of consumer fulfillment, John Felton, vice president of worldwide delivery services, and Dave Treadwell, vice president of e-commerce services. Amazon stock closed at $ 3,284.72 on Friday, down 0.38%.
3. Salesforce.com
Salesforce.com (NYSE :), which sells enterprise software and cloud-based services to corporate customers, reports its quarterly results on Tuesday, August 25, after the market is closed
The software vendor is expected to report $ 4.9 billion in revenues and $ 0.67 in earnings per share.
Since the company started in late May, the stock has increased by more than 18%. It closed at $ 207.53 on Friday.
It was then that the San Francisco-based company revised its annual revenue and profit forecasts, suggesting that the coronavirus-induced recession has weakened demand for the software manufacturer's cloud applications.
The company is the market leader in sales tracking software, but growth rates have slowed over time.
