Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Tuesday, Jul 22, 2025

0:00
0:00

Once Wall Street's stars, Big Tech falls back to Earth

After years of screaming higher, almost regardless of what the economy was doing, tech-oriented stocks are tanking and dragging down the rest of Wall Street. Many of these high-profile companies are still making billions of dollars in profits, and they continue to dominate the top of the rankings for most valuable businesses.
But two big changes have caused their stocks to come sharply back to Earth this year: Interest rates are rising, and expectations for their big continued growth suddenly look much more shaky.

Consider Netflix, whose stock more than tripled between early 2018 and its peak last November. It’s since lost virtually all that gain, dropping by more than two thirds this year alone for the worst loss in the S&P 500 as of Tuesday.

Similarly, Facebook parent Meta Platforms has lost close to half its value this year. Neither company falls into Wall Street’s “technology” classification; they’re instead categorized as “communications services” companies, along with many other internet-related stocks.

But they are both big parts of the Nasdaq composite index, along with such tech heavyweights as Apple and Microsoft. And the Nasdaq is on pace for its worst month since the 2008 financial crisis. Its drop of 20.2% for the year, as of Tuesday, was much worse than the 12.4% fall for the S&P 500 or the 8.5% slip for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which has less of a tech focus.

The tech stocks in the S&P 500 are down 19.8% for the year through Tuesday, while communications services stocks in the index tumbled even more, 24.1%. The rest of the S&P 500 fell only 6.9%.

Tech-oriented stocks have struggled in large part because interest rates have shot to their highest level in years. The 10-year Treasury yield, for example, topped 2.90% recently after starting the year at 1.51%, though it’s receded in recent days. Yields have surged as the Federal Reserve prepares to raise short-term rates sharply to stamp out high inflation. It’s also planning other moves to push longer-term rates upward.

Higher interest rates are a drag on all kinds of investments. Now that a 10-year Treasury is close to offering a real return for the first time since the pandemic, after taking inflation into account, investors can make money by parking in safe bonds. That makes them less willing to pay high prices for riskier investments. High-growth, tech-oriented stocks are now taking the hardest hits because their prices earlier soared the highest.

Netflix, for example, began 2022 with a stock price trading at 45.6 times its expected earnings per share over the ensuing 12 months. That was more than double what investors were willing to pay for each $1 of expected earnings from the overall S&P 500.

Investors were comfortable paying such high prices for Netflix and tech stocks generally when interest rates were super-low. They also were willing to stretch for stocks of companies that were able to grow strongly, even when the overall economy was hurting.

But now rates are rising and continued growth looks less assured. Netflix recently reported a drop in its number of subscribers for the first three months of the year, for example, with more losses expected in the spring. People have more options for entertainment now that pandemic restrictions are being relaxed.

Google’s parent company Alphabet said Tuesday that its revenue growth last quarter slowed to its lowest pace since 2020. Analysts highlighted slowdowns in search and at YouTube in particular.

Stocks of semiconductor companies have also been big laggards this year, partly on worries that demand for smartphones, personal computers and other hardware will flag after sales exploded during the pandemic. An index of semiconductor stocks has dropped 26.3% this year, a sharp fall after it soared more than 40% for three straight years.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
President Trump Diagnosed with Chronic Venous Insufficiency After Leg Swelling
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
Kurdistan Workers Party Takes Symbolic Step Towards Peace in Northern Iraq
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
Saudi Arabia Maintains Ties with Iran Despite Israel Conflict
Russia Formally Recognizes Taliban Government in Afghanistan
Mediators Edge Closer to Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Agreement
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
House Oversight Committee Subpoenas Former Jill Biden Aide Amid Investigation into Alleged Concealment of President Biden's Cognitive Health
Amazon Reaches Major Automation Milestone with Over One Million Robots
Meta Announces Formation of Ambitious AI Unit, Meta Superintelligence Labs
China Unveils Miniature Insect-Like Surveillance Drone
Marc Marquez Claims Victory at Dutch Grand Prix Amidst Family Misfortune
Iran Executes Alleged Israeli Spies and Arrests Hundreds Amid Post-War Crackdown
Trump Asserts Readiness for Further Strikes on Iran Amid Nuclear Tensions
Iran's Parliament Votes to Suspend Cooperation with Nuclear Watchdog
Trump Announces Upcoming US-Iran Meeting Amid Controversial Airstrikes
Trump Moves to Reshape Middle East Following Israel-Iran Conflict
NATO Leaders Endorse Plan for Increased Defence Spending
U.S. Crude Oil Prices Drop Below $65 Amid Market Volatility
Explosions Rock Doha as Iranian Missiles Target Qatar
“You Have 12 Hours to Flee”: Israeli Threat Campaign Targets Surviving Iranian Officials
Oman Set to Introduce Personal Income Tax, First in Gulf
Germany and Italy Under Pressure to Repatriate $245bn of Gold from US Vaults
Iran Intensifies Crackdown on Alleged Mossad Operatives After Sabotage Claims
Trump Praises Iran’s ‘Very Weak’ Response After U.S. Strikes and Presses Israel to Pursue Peace
WATCH: Israeli forces show the aftermath of a massive airstrike at Iran's Isfahan nuclear site
We have new information and breaking details to share about what is shaping up to be a historic air campaign tonight
Six Massive Bombs Dropped on Fordow; Trump: 'A Historic Moment for the U.S., Israel, and the World'
Fordow: Deeply Buried Iranian Enrichment Site in U.S.–Israel Crosshairs
United States Conducts Precision Strikes on Iran’s Nuclear Sites
US strikes Iran nuclear sites, Trump says
Pakistan to nominate Trump for Nobel Peace Prize.
Israel Confirms Assassination of Quds Force Commander in Tehran
16 Billion Login Credentials Leaked in Unprecedented Cybersecurity Breach
Senate hearing on who was 'really running' Biden White House kicks off
G7 Leaders Fail to Reach Consensus on Key Global Issues
Mass exodus in Tehran as millions try to flee following Trump’s evacuation order
Iranian Military Officers Reportedly Seek Contact with Reza Pahlavi, Signal Intent to Defect
Vietnam Emerges as Luxury Yacht Destination for Ultra‑Rich
China's Iranian Oil Imports Face Disruption Amid Escalating Middle East Tensions
Trump Demands Iran's Unconditional Surrender Amid Escalating Conflict
Israeli Airstrike Targets Iranian State TV in Central Tehran
×