California: Amazon.com and Apple added about $196 billion in market value on Friday after they joined technology peers Alphabet and Microsoft in assuaging investor concerns by reporting higher revenue even as consumers curb their spending amid rising inflation.
Amazon shares jumped 10 per cent, their biggest move since February, while Apple advanced 3.3 per cent. The gains helped power a 1.8 per cent rally by the Nasdaq 100 Index, locking in its best monthly performance sine April 2020. Amazon’s 27 per cent surge in July was its biggest October 2009, while Apple’s 19 per cent move was the best in nearly two years.
Amazon expanded both its e-commerce and cloud-computing businesses, with Bloomberg Intelligence analysts noting that the company’s performance proves that “it is better positioned to weather inflationary pressures and benefits from a more-affluent customer contrary to Walmart.”
Meanwhile, Apple beat analysts’ revenue expectations thanks in part to higher iPhone sales at a time when smartphone shipments are falling globally. To be sure, Apple reported an 11 per cent decline in net income, however, the overall results were better than feared.
“Apple appears to be seeing no meaningful impact on its iPhone business in the current macro environment,” Piper Sandler analyst Harsh Kumar wrote in a research note. Also, restrictions on production in China eased at the end of the quarter, which “allowed some pent-up demand to be met,” he said.
