The Nasdaq has been marching pretty steadily higher over the last month as hot tech stocks ride the broader market’s upward momentum — a trend that brings the index’s 12-month gains to a not-too-shabby 18%.
A few specific hot tech stocks have made some pretty big headlines in recent days as well, including behemoths Apple (AAPL), Google (GOOG, GOOGL) and Tesla (TSLA). Let’s take a quick look at what news makes these three giants are some of the top tech stocks to watch this week.
Hot Tech Stocks to Watch: Apple (AAPL)
If you’re impressed by the Nasdaq’s gains, you’ll be blown away from the show Apple stock has put on of late. Over the last 12 months, shares of AAPL have notched a 56% climb, including a 45% improvement in 2014 alone.
That head-turning performance, along with the natural follow-up question of whether it can continue, is in itself enough of a reason for Apple to be one of the top hot tech stocks to watch this week, and in weeks to come. But making things even more interesting is the question that Forbes contributor Mark Rogowsky posed in a post yesterday. Can Apple be the first trillion-dollar company?
As he wrote:
“At least five analysts have upgraded price targets on Apple…In the meantime, the company has seen its shares reach an all-time high of $117.57 before closing out the week at $116.31. That price gives Apple a market capitalization of $680 billion — more than Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon (AMZN), Netflix (NFLX) and Twitter (TWTR) combined.”
Granted, a $680 billion market cap is still a good bit off of the $1 trillion mark … and Rogowsky runs through a substantial list of things that could go wrong. But even with that arbitrary mark off the table, the run up in Apple stock is definitely one to keep an eye on.
Hot Tech Stocks to Watch: Google (GOOG)
The next entry on our list of hot tech stocks to watch doesn’t have quite as much positive momentum in its corner at the moment. Google stock is currently sitting in the red year-to-date, and the most recent big news out of the search giant is hardly good.
Reuters reported on Friday that the European Parliament is “preparing a non-binding resolution that proposes splitting Google’s search engine operations in Europe from the rest of its business as one possible option to rein in the Internet company’s dominance in the search market.”
Shares of GOOG didn’t budge on that news in particular, but it’s definitely concerning for investors. As Search Engine Land noted, “the move represents an escalation of anti-Google sentiment and rhetoric.”
Hot Tech Stocks to Watch: Tesla (TSLA):
Last on our list of hot tech stocks to watch this week is Elon Musk’s Tesla Motors (TSLA). Tesla stock is down more than 5% in the past three months, including taking a beating of more than 2% on Friday alone. But that was before news broke this weekend that the automaker is in talks with Daimler’s (DDAIF) BMW over a possible partnership around batteries and light-weight components.
Since the news is just of “talks,” Tesla stock investors should keep an ear to the ground, as an actual deal could get shares rolling in the right direction again.
As of this writing, Robert Martin did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
