“
‘There’s near-term optimism, almost like a last hurrah… before rising rates and any of the concerns around Big Tech with a Democratic government slows it down.’
”
That’s Gene Goldman, chief investment officer at Cetera Financial Group, talking to Bloomberg News about a surge in tech buying by hedge funds ahead of high-profile earnings from the likes of Apple
AAPL,
and Amazon
AMZN,
in the coming days.
According to Goldman Sachs Group’s prime brokerage, hedge funds increased their net exposure to megacaps in the technology sector at one of the fastest paces in recent years. This coming off a stretch where the “smart money” was unloading some of the most prominent names.
After holding up strong in the face of the pandemic, Facebook
FB,
Apple, Amazon, Microsoft
MSFT,
and Alphabet
GOOG,
are all expected to post faster profit growth than the rest of the market for a 12th straight quarter, Bloomberg estimates show.
If Netflix’s
NFLX,
showing after results last week is any indication, such a “last hurrah” could be a profitable one for those loading up on tech stocks. Netflix surged 17% on strong numbers.
Read: The ‘biggest red flag’ in this bull market just vanished, trader says
Megacap tech aside, it’s a huge week for earnings overall, with nearly a quarter of the S&P 500 set to report results. Combined, the companies reporting represent 39% of the index by market value. Given that the S&P 500 is weighted by market capitalization, this roster of companies will have an outsize impact on the profit trajectory for the index.
It’s also a busy stretch for the Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
with 13 members of the blue-chip index getting ready to report their quarterly results, including 3M
MMM,
, Johnson & Johnson
JNJ,
and American Express
AXP,