It should come as no surprise that if consumers love a company, that company is likely to perform well. This first relates to the business itself, which then translates to the stock price. The biggest driver for a stock price is optimism. If consumers and investors are optimistic about the future potential for a specific company, that company’s stock price will move higher. Below are ten of the most loved tech companies, and in most cases, that love has translated to investor wins.
1. Facebook
Some of you might scoff at the notion that Facebook is still loved, but with 2.7 billion users, that is certainly the case. Of course, not everyone is still a fan due to a lot of negative posts and political drama, but even that drives traffic because people love drama. Facebook has already seen the majority of its growth and is entering mature territory, but that isn’t a bad thing. It just means less volatility and a steadier ride.
It also means that since it’s a bigger ship to turn yet has plenty of liquidity, it’s an ideal stock to trade if you desire fast money. This is why understanding technical analysis is imperative if you want to make fast money. If that’s not the case and you’re the more patient type, disregard and go with the buy-and-hold approach. Facebook should be able to hold its own for quite some time.
2. Amazon
Most people love Amazon. To give you an idea of the growth for this online delivery behemoth, Amazon Prime had 50 million users in 2015 and now has more than 112 million users. With COVID-19 playing a role in shopping habits, this growth should soar this holiday season.
3. Apple
Almost everyone has a smartphone now, and the majority of those are iPhones. In fact, there are 900 million iPhones being used in the world. To put that in perspective, the U.S. population is 382 million. In addition to iPhones, there are another 600 million Apple devices being used around the world. Apple has been brilliant in marketing as well as retaining customers. Once a customer is inside the Apple universe, that customer is unlikely to leave.
4. eBay
When it comes to excitement and popularity, eBay isn’t what it used to be. It’s still a platform that many people use and love, but there is simply a lot more out there for people to do now, and one of those platforms will be covered below. On the positive side, more than 30% of the U.S. population has the eBay app downloaded. There are more than 182 million users worldwide, but growth is slowing. With excitement and optimism for eBay down, it shouldn’t surprise you that this is the only company on the list where the stock has underperformed the market.
5. Snap
Snap owns Snapchat, Spectacles, and Bitmoji. It has 249 million daily active users. This growth should continue into the near future, but unless Snap focuses on inorganic growth or finds another avenue to boost revenue, this growth is likely to fade. There is simply too much competition in this market and new players are highly likely to enter the game.
6. Disney
Disney is one of the most loved brands in the world, and it can qualify as a tech company for many reasons. In this case, we’ll focus on Disney+, which is available as an app. Disney+ has 73 million subscribers, which is way ahead of where it expected to be. The Mandalorian, Hamilton, Mulan, and Black Is King have all played big roles in its success.
7. Etsy
Etsy has definitely stolen market share from eBay. It’s similar yet different. Etsy is an online craft fair where you can sell handmade crafts and vintage items that are at least 20 years old for a flat fee of $0.20. Users and growth have increased every year over the past five years, and COVID-19 has helped boost those numbers because many people are looking for ways to earn extra income. In some cases, Etsy becomes their business and primary source of income. Etsy’s growth might not last forever, but it should continue for the foreseeable future.
8. Netflix
Netflix has 195 million users. Despite a lot of competition, that number continues to increase. The past year has been a big one for the streaming service since movie theaters around the country have been closed for the majority of the year. If Netflix can continue to deliver hits like Stranger Things, Tiger King, and Ozark, growth should continue. When COVID-19 ends and things go back to normal, it will be all about quality for Netflix. It must stay ahead of its peers in that area.
9. Uber
This is an interesting name to be on this list because people seem to either love or hate Uber. What most people don’t know is that this company was run in a very interesting way up until recently. The company culture had been whatever it takes to win. This included breaking the law to get the job done. That culture has since changed for the better, and many people love the simplicity of Uber opposed to taking a taxi. Uber is also well ahead of Lyft with 78 million monthly users vs. 21 million monthly users. The most popular cities for Uber are New York, San Francisco, San Diego, Miami, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, and Salt Lake City.
10. Alphabet
You might be confused by this one, but one of Alphabet’s subsidiaries is Google. Now you understand. Google owns 90% of search engine market share, which is pure domination. The number of people who use Google is just shy of 4 billion. There are 7.8 billion on the planet.