Calling out winners and losers based on an election cycle is a tricky business. As of Wednesday, November 4, it seems the stock market wants to declare that the technology sector may be the big beneficiary from the 2020 elections. Despite the country not knowing whether it will be under a Trump or Biden regime, it looks as though the gridlock will continue with a mixed Congress. That also can change, but the market bets are pointing that way.
Large tech companies are adding countless billions of dollars in market capitalization as the live-money voting is now betting that all the proposed regulations and potential breakups of the tech giants will be pushed off to a later date. In fact, these companies may now be able to operate even more aggressively than have in recent years.
24/7 Wall St. has reviewed some of the top tech leaders to determine why they would be viewed as strong winners based on the election outcomes. The current assumption is that under gridlock and with so many other fights between the parties, it is likely going to result in no major actions against the technology giants.
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As with all political issues revolving around business sectors, surprises can occur, and the real wins and losses remain to be seen. That just doesn’t keep investors and speculators from placing their bets with live money.
The explanations about why each company is winning can be debated, and the outcomes are still unknown. That said, what can’t be debated is how the market is treating the technology darlings on “the morning after.” One major mover may be coincidental, and one key social media player is losing handily.
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL | GOOGL Price Prediction) has been called out by multiple officials as having far too much power and influence in people’s lives. It is probably true that the operators of Google can tell more about someone than that person knows about themselves. Alphabet’s breakup odds may have just gone down. Its shares were up 3.9% at $1,709.00 on Wednesday morning.
Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) may now have limited worries about how it operates under a gridlock scenario. Jeff Bezos is not exactly Trump’s hero, but now it seems that the empire of selling online, running a massive cloud operation, having the top destination for organic and natural foods and getting into whatever business it wants to at the time will be allowed to go on. Amazon shares were up 4.5% at $3,187.00 on Wednesday morning.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) is still the world’s largest corporation, with more than a $1.9 trillion market cap. Its shares rose 2.3% to $113.00 on Wednesday. While the iPhone is not a monopoly, companies have fought Apple’s app store for taking too large of a cut and for having too much influence. On another note, was a Biden or a Trump win going to prevent millions of consumers from upgrading to the iPhone 12?
Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) also has been a potential breakup candidate for its dominance in social media. Mark Zuckerberg has been under fire more times than can be counted easily, but now it seems as though the company can continue with its divisive and ever-changing policies. That remains to be seen, but the live-money bets in the stock market had Facebook up 5.2% at $278.90 on Wednesday morning.
Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) has been a cloud winner under Azure, and current and pending contracts might not face much scrutiny under gridlock. That remains to be seen, but Microsoft has also been a winner from the stay-at-home economy. Its Xbox refresh also likely will boost revenues by the billions this holiday season, regardless of which candidate (or party) ultimately wins. Microsoft shares were up 3.4% at $213.30 on Wednesday.
Salesforce.com Inc. (NYSE: CRM) is the newest Dow Jones industrial stock in technology, and its market has grown and grown. The split work between offices and home is also helping to bolster sales. This one may not have been a target by regulators, but the gravy train is likely to keep on producing gravy. Salesforce was last seen up 3.1% at $244.25.
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD) was one of Wednesday’s technology winners, but it had absolutely no significant regulatory exposure to speak of. AMD has its daily success tied to an analyst upgrade, as Goldman Sachs upgraded its shares to Buy from Neutral and raised its target price to $96 from $84. The shares traded up almost 5% at $80.35, and that is down from a high of $80.72 earlier in the morning.
Twitter Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) is that one exception to the rule on Wednesday. Jack Dorsey and the people at Twitter have been accused on more than one occasion of limiting speech and blocking countless conservative voices. Without a blue wave, that may keep the pressure on the company. Twitter was down 0.15% at $41.68 on Wednesday morning.
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