BOSTON, MA.: U.S. technology giants are increasingly dominating the stock market in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, even as they draw accusations of unfair business practices, and some investors fear the pump is primed for a tech-fueled sell-off.
"People see these companies as winners and investors are willing to pay any price to own them," said Michael O'Rourke, chief market strategist at JonesTrading."That's always a risk."One potential threat comes from an array of investigations and legal actions. Wedbush nevertheless raised its target price for Apple on Wednesday to US$700 a share in a"bull case" scenario, citing a"once in a decade" opportunity to take advantage of as many as 950 million potential iPhone upgrades worldwide.Still, this week's Apple court decision may be a taste of things to come for technology giants, whose influence has been one of the few issues capable of galvanizing bipartisan interest among lawmakers.
Amazon said it operates in a"fiercely competitive" market, citing U.S. Census Bureau data that only about 10per cent of U.S. retail sales occur online. The companies'"increased market share ... provides potentially huge opportunities supporting growth prospects over many years," said David Polak, equity investment director at US$1.7 trillion Capital Group, which owns shares of big technology companies.