一件有趣的事情發生在途中對股市的退路。
從 Covid-19 和隨之而來的封鎖中受益最多的居家股票，如Etsy、DoorDash、Zoom和DocuSign，本週表現最差。當世界衛生組織稱其構成“非常高”的全球風險的新的 Covid omicron 變體在世界各地傳播時，人們可能會產生相反的反應。
大幅拋售表明投資者押注，無論 omicron 發生什麼事情，美國都已經完成了關閉，這促進了食品配送和流媒體電視服務，同時迫使人們遠程協作工作，並通過視頻與朋友和家人無休止地聊天。
流行病寵兒 Zoom 的股價本週下跌 16.5%，在 12 月 3 日創下每股 177.12 美元的 52 週新低，較 2020 年 10 月的歷史高位下跌 69%。在線市場 Etsy 的股價成為避風港對於大流行初期的口罩購買者來說，本週下跌了 20.6%，而食品配送服務 DoorDash 下跌了 16%，Roku 下跌了 13%，Shopify 下跌了 10.5%，Netflix下跌了 9.5%。
與此同時，摩根大通分析師 Sterling Auty 寫道，電子簽名軟件製造商 DocuSign 的價值在去年上漲了兩倍，在該公司疲弱的第四季度指引表明“大流行的順風停止的速度比預期的要快得多”後，該公司週五下跌了 42%。給客戶的一封信。
整個科技行業都有很多痛苦。納斯達克綜合指數週五暴跌逾 1.9%，本週下跌 2.6%，成為今年第五個最糟糕的一周。本週結束的令人失望的就業報告加上歐美光的擔憂導致周五的低迷。
但一些科技藍籌公司頂住了壓力。蘋果、惠普和思科本週均實現上漲，因投資者從市場波動中尋求掩護，從高風險、高倍數的股票轉向支付股息的現金產生公司。
本週早些時候，美聯儲主席杰羅姆鮑威爾表示，央行非常擔心通脹壓力不斷升級，以至於可能開始縮減旨在提振經濟的債券購買。
在鮑威爾週二發表講話後，蘋果是唯一上漲的科技股。
Needham 分析師勞拉·馬丁 (Laura Martin) 對 CNBC 表示：“你知道，這些公司會渡過難關，不會破產，不會陷入財務困境，因此質量會更高。”
蘋果週五下跌，但本週仍上漲超過 3%。惠普股價本週暴漲約 8%，並在周五創下歷史新高。惠普首席執行官恩里克·洛爾 (Enrique Lore)上週表示，該公司預計在“可預見的未來”各細分市場對其個人電腦的需求將強勁。
思科和博通本週上漲超過 2%，英特爾和高通上漲不到 1%。
但是對於大量的技術來說，市場是一片紅色的海洋。Facebook、AMD、Adobe和特斯拉本週均下跌超過 6%，而本年度表現最佳科技股的雲軟件供應商Asana暴跌 36.8% ，另一家近期表現出色的 Bill.com，下滑 21%。
Salesforce在周二發布了弱於預期的第四季度預測，這也加劇了人們對雲的擔憂。該股本週下跌了 9%。
“這太瘋狂了，”投資雲軟件的 Bessemer Venture Partners 合夥人 Byron Deeter 週五在接受 CNBC 的“TechCheck”採訪時說。“你可以看看四個原因。你可以看看 omicron。你可以看看通貨膨脹。你可以看看利率。你可以看看獲利了結。”
然而，迪特很快向懷疑者指出了去年發生的事情。
“提醒一下，在家工作實際上對雲股票非常有利，”迪特說。他表示，通脹可能令人擔憂，因為“下游與通脹的聯繫肯定會導致價值股和現金產生股票隨著時間的推移而輪換。”
- As
markets tumbled this week on news of the Covid omicron variant and on
inflation concerns, some of the worst performers were stay-at-home
stocks.
- DocuSign, Etsy, DoorDash and Zoom all tumbled, while HP, Apple and Cisco saw gains.
- “It’s been a wild one,” said Byron Deeter, a partner at Bessemer Venture Partners who invests in cloud software.
A trader working after the Nasdaq opening bell ceremony on April 18, 2019 in New York City.
Kena Betancur | Getty Images
A funny thing happened on the way to the stock market’s retreat.
Stay-at-home stocks that benefitted most from Covid-19 and the ensuing lockdowns, like Etsy, DoorDash, Zoom and DocuSign,
were the worst performers this week. It’s the opposite reaction that
one might expect as the new Covid omicron variant, which the World Health Organization said poses a “very high” global risk, makes its way around the world.
The
sharp selloff suggests investors are betting that, no matter what
happens with omicron, the U.S. is done with the shutdowns that boosted
food delivery and streaming TV services while forcing people to
collaborate remotely for work and chat endlessly by video with friends
and family members.
Shares of pandemic darling Zoom slumped 16.5%
for the week, hitting a new 52-week low on Dec. 3 of $177.12 a share, a
69% drop from its record high in October 2020. Shares of online
marketplace Etsy, which became a haven for mask buyers early in the
pandemic, fell 20.6% for the week, while food delivery service DoorDash
slumped 16%, Roku dropped 13%, Shopify slid 10.5% and Netflix fell 9.5%.
Meanwhile, e-signature software maker DocuSign, which tripled in value last year, tanked 42%
on Friday after the company’s weak fourth-quarter guidance indicated
“the pandemic tailwinds came to a much faster than expected halt,”
JPMorgan analyst Sterling Auty wrote in a note to clients.
There
was plenty of pain to go around across the tech sector. The Nasdaq
Composite plummeted more than 1.9% on Friday, leaving it down 2.6% for
the week for its fifth-worst week of the year. A disappointing jobs
report to end the week coupled with omicron concerns led to the Friday
downturn.
But some of tech’s blue-chip names withstood the pressure. Apple, HP and Cisco
all turned in gains for the week, as investors seeking cover from the
market’s volatility rotated out of riskier, high-multiple stocks and
into cash-generating companies that pay dividends.
Earlier
in the week, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell indicated that the
central bank is so concerned about escalating inflation pressures that
it could begin tapering its bond buying designed to boost the economy.
Following Powell’s remarks on Tuesday, Apple was the only tech stock that was up.
“There’s
a flight to quality with companies that you know will weather the
storm, not go bankrupt, not have financial distress,” Needham analyst
Laura Martin told CNBC.
Apple slipped on Friday but is still up
more than 3% for the week. Shares of HP popped about 8% this week and
hit an all-time high on Friday. HP CEO Enrique Lore said last week that the company expects to see robust demand for its personal computers for the “foreseeable future” across its segments.
Cisco and Broadcom rose more than 2% this week, and Intel and Qualcomm were up less than 1%.
But for large swaths of tech, the market was a sea of red. Facebook, AMD, Adobe and Tesla all fell by more than 6% for the week, while cloud software vendor Asana, which had been the best-performing tech stock of the year, plunged 36.8%, and Bill.com, another recent outperformer, slid 21%.
Salesforce did its part to contribute to the cloud concerns on Tuesday, when the company issued a weaker-than-expected fourth-quarter forecast. The stock is down 9% this week.
“It’s
been a wild one,” said Byron Deeter, a partner at Bessemer Venture
Partners who invests in cloud software, in an interview with CNBC’s
“TechCheck” on Friday. “You can look at four causes. You can look at
omicron. You can look at inflation. You can look at interest rates. And
you can look at profit-taking.”
However, Deeter is quick to point out to skeptics what happened last year.
“As
a reminder, working from home is actually very good for cloud stocks,”
Deeter said. Inflation could be a cause for concern, he said, because
“the linkage downstream to inflation certainly could cause a rotation to
value stocks and cash-generative stocks over time.”
