Alphabet and Amazon Will Make or Break the Nasdaq This Week
The Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQINDEX: ^IXIC) has taken a bigger hit this January than most of its large-cap index peers. Yet the hardest-hit stocks often see the biggest bounces, and that's what Nasdaq investors are experiencing on Monday. As of 12:30 p.m. ET, the Nasdaq was up more than 2%, climbing back above the 14,000 mark as it attempts to rebound from a deep correction that took it to the brink of bear-market territory.
There are thousands of stocks listed on the Nasdaq, but its biggest components still have a big impact. This week, earnings season continues to play out, and two of the biggest companies in the world will report their latest quarterly results. What Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL) (NASDAQ: GOOG) and Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) say about their respective performances in recent months could play a massive role in determining whether the Nasdaq continues to bounce or extends its downward move. Below, you'll learn more about how each stock is faring as it heads toward its key release.
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Alphabet searches for greatness
Shares of Alphabet were little changed on Monday afternoon, rising just a third of a percent. The search engine giant will release its latest results on or after the market closes on Tuesday.
Expectations from Alphabet shareholders are high, as most expect that the headwinds that so dramatically affected the company's advertising revenue should continue to dissipate. The consensus forecast for revenue is a 27% year-over-year jump to $72.1 billion, with earnings expected to come in at $27.32 per share, up about 22% from year-ago levels.
Yet even if Alphabet does post strong results for the fourth quarter of 2021, that doesn't necessarily guarantee that the stock will move higher. That's because many companies have seen that new issues like inflationary pressures and supply chain challenges are restraining their projections for future growth in 2022. With key Alphabet businesses like Google Search and YouTube relying on healthy businesses to spend money on advertising, anything that pressures those businesses into pulling back on their marketing spending could have a ripple effect that might lead Alphabet to warn investors about what 2022 could look like.
Alphabet shares lagged behind its FAANG stock peers for many years before finally making up some ground in 2021. Investors are hopeful that the Google parent can keep up positive momentum and make 2022 a year to remember.
Will Amazon follow Netflix's lead?
Elsewhere, shares of Amazon were up almost 3%. The e-commerce and cloud-computing behemoth won't reveal its results until Thursday afternoon, but already, there's a lot of buzz surrounding what Amazon's next business move could be.
Unlike Alphabet, Amazon is likely to see some of its key metrics pull back from year-ago levels. Although revenue is seen rising nearly 10% year over year to $137.6 billion, earnings projections for $3.71 per share would be a nearly 75% drop for what Amazon's bottom line looked like during last year's fourth quarter as pandemic-induced restrictions led to unprecedented levels of e-commerce activity.
Amazon has already tried to rein in expectations from its shareholders as it deals with a host of potential obstacles. CEO Andy Jassy's comments after its third-quarter earnings report suggested that difficulties in finding workers, higher wage costs, global supply chain issues, and rising freight and shipping costs would all combine to put pressure on Amazon's profitability. The company highlighted its commitment to ensure the customer experience would remain positive whatever it took. Yet some believe that Amazon could follow the lead of Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) and raise prices on the Amazon Prime service in an effort to boost high-margin subscription revenue.
Both Amazon and Alphabet have seen their shares pull back substantially during the first month of 2022. That could arguably put them in a better position to bounce higher if their results are solid. Yet, as we've seen from other large-cap companies, everything depends on just how much shareholders want to see in terms of future growth potential to justify the current share prices of the Nasdaq giants' stocks.
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John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Dan Caplinger owns Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), and Amazon. The Motley Fool owns and recommends Alphabet (A shares), Amazon, and Netflix. The Motley Fool recommends Alphabet (C shares). The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
