Earlier this month, Apple reported Q223 earnings of $2.34 per share on revenue of $97.3 billion, beating analyst expectations of $2.18 per share on revenue of $94.1 billion. The company also announced that it would be returning $90 billion to shareholders in the form of buybacks and dividends. The strong earnings and buyback announcement have helped to further boost investor sentiment in the company.
The S&P 500, which is up 8.1% in 2023, would be down for the year without the contribution of the eight largest tech stocks. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite has advanced 21%, its best start to a year since 1991, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
Microsoft, which in January announced a $10 billion investment in OpenAI, the startup behind ChatGPT, is up 36%. Apple, Google parent Alphabet and Amazon.com have each added more than 33%.
Based on the volume of calls he has received from clients, [Joseph Zappia, co-chief investment officer at LVW Advisors said] that interest from mom-and-pop investors hasn’t yet reached a point that suggests a bubble is developing. “If I were to use past frenzies as a reference point, it’s nothing like people saying to me two years ago, what coins should I buy?” he said. “The crypto craze was on a whole other level.”