Amazon.com is trying to regain an elite status it lost because of coronavirus: a trillion-dollar market capitalization.
The e-commerce giant briefly reached that valuation in January after a strong earnings report. It proceeded to drop as much as 26 percent as Covid-19 shut down economies around the world.
However, there’s mounting evidence that the outbreak may ultimately help AMZN. That’s let it rebound more quickly than other companies — including both technology and consumer stocks.
AMZN closed just 9 percent below its all-time high on Monday. Other big Internet stocks like Facebook (FB) and Alphabet (GOOGL) are more than 23 percent off their peaks. Apple (AAPL) is also 20 percent below its 52-week high.
Amazon.com Near $1 Trillion
AMZN not only ended Monday with a $994 billion market cap. It also closed above its 50- and 200-day moving averages. FB, GOOGL and AAPL are below those same levels, a sign of weaker demand by investors.
FB and GOOGL face lower advertising revenues spending as coronavirus hammers business. AAPL’s problem is the risk of fewer iPhone sales as millions of workers around the world lose their jobs.
AMZN, on the other hand, has been hiring as business streams in. CEO Jeff Bezos plans to add 100,000 warehouse and delivery staff, lifting optimism about quarterly results later this month.
Aside from the obvious boost from consumers shopping at home, AMZN is entering another fast-growing market: video games. Last week, The New York Times reported that the e-commerce giant will launch a big-budget title called Crucible in May.
FANG Stocks
AMZN is one of the “FANG” stocks that led the market higher between 2016 and early 2020. FB and GOOGL are also FANG stocks.
Netflix (NFLX), the fourth, has been the strongest of the group. The streaming-video giant is the least economically sensitive. It’s also gained subscribers as coronavirus confines millions of people around the world to their homes.
Getting back to the trillion-dollar club, GOOGL has lost the most ground because of coronavirus. Here’s a breakdown of biggest U.S. companies by market capitalization, with their next earnings dates:
| Company | Market Cap | Earnings |
| Microsoft (MSFT) | $1.26 trillion | 4/22 (estimated) |
| Apple (AAPL) | $1.15 trillion | 4/28 (estimated) |
| Amazon.com (AMZN) | $996 billion | 4/23 (estimated) |
| Alphabet (GOOGL) | $814 billion | 4/27 (estimated) |
