Even casual market observers are aware of warnings that the 2023 stock rally rests precariously on just a few giant companies. Rarely has a rally occurred in the past decade in which the same alarm wasn’t raised. Similar caution was counselled throughout the FAANG-fomented bull run of the late 2010s. Heeding it would’ve kept investors out of one of the market’s strongest-ever five-year runs.
Still, the degree of concentration raises the possibility different forces are contributing to the lopsidedness. This year, the seven largest firms — from Apple to Microsoft Corp. and Nvidia Corp. — all seen benefiting from the AI boom, have added a total of US$4 trillion in their share value, an increase that’s 47 per cent more than the combined worth of all the companies in the Russell 2000 Index of small caps, data compiled by Bloomberg shows.
By his tally, U.S. stocks added US$55 trillion in aggregate worth for investors in more than nine decades. Over the stretch, Apple, Microsoft and Exxon Mobil are the largest money-making machines, accounting for almost 11 per cent of the total increase.Article content