What are FAANGs and what do they determine in the stock market?

Technology has advanced so much that it has allowed the development and structuring of companies in the sector that can be considered as role models, or models for measuring success. 

There are so many technology companies in the world, and each one represents a pillar of importance not only in terms of work but also in terms of development in itself. 

But when it comes to popularity and authority, we cannot leave aside companies like Google or Facebook. 

But where are we going with all this? Today we are dealing with a topic that you surely did not know about, even if you do know the companies that are involved. So what are FAANGs? And although it’s obviously an acronym, the interesting thing is what it represents in terms of technology. 

Get to know this concept a little better and the importance it has for our current society. 

What are FAANGs? 

To put this concept into context, here are the following questions: 

1. What comes to mind when you need to know information about something?

2. What social network do you think of when someone mentions memes, when meeting people and when sharing your social experiences? 

3. What is the most famous store that comes to mind when it comes to shopping internationally in dollars? 

4. What is the most prestigious technology brand in the United States? 

5. What was the first platform that promoted streaming series entertainment? 

This dynamic is simple, think about which company or entity comes to mind when you read these questions. Well, if your answers correspond to: Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Google it means that you are in tune with what FAANGs are. 

FAANG is the acronym for each of these technology companies. Does it make more sense now? Well, it's simple, this acronym is nothing more than the representation of the most powerful technology companies today.

Each of these companies is part of the Nasdap stock exchange in the United States, but not only that, they represent the most important and relevant technology companies for the market. 

The reason? Well, we can verify it with the example above: when it comes to finding information about something, you usually think of Google, if you want to see a good quality series, you think of Netflix, if you think of a powerful social network and a lot of interaction, Facebook is preferred and not to mention Apple or Amazon for shopping. 

That’s why the most globally recognized technology companies were gathered in a group that was given a name to identify them quickly. So now when people talk about the FAANGs in the stock market, you know what they are referring to. 

A little history of the FAANGs 

The term itself was supposedly coined by Jim Cramer, while he was participating in the US show Mad Money, in 2013. And he used it precisely to refer to these multi-billion dollar technology companies. 

Now, it should be noted that it wasn’t always FAANG; at the time of its creation, only 4 of these 5 companies were participants. Apple was added to this concept or acronym in 2017 once it started trading on the stock market in a massive way. 

That is, it went from being FANG to FAANG, and to this day, the term has remained even though the aforementioned companies have started to change their names. 

But of course, even though Facebook is now Meta, all users already identify it as Facebook, and it may be a very long time before users start identifying it as its actual name. 

And what determines the FAANGs in the stock market? 

Well, it’s well known that these companies function as a method of measurement to calculate the level of success of other technology companies. 

S&P 500 is an index that has different values, and among them is the value of technology. Currently, that technology value is at 22% of the total index, and the FAANGs represent 14% of that, so you can get an idea of how valuable it is. 

So, through these stocks, you can determine the level of growth of other companies and their impact on the stock market. 

And why these companies? 

You might notice that this is a bit of a trick question, as the answer is almost obvious even if you’re not an expert in statistics or measurement.

When you name one of these companies you can immediately recognize it and know what it is, regardless of whether you know how they work. Well, we will tell you a little about these companies, their importance and what it is about their stock market value that makes them belong to the most popular assets. 

Facebook

When it comes to a social network, few can be better defined than when talking about Facebook. A social network that was born on February 4, 2004, and remains to this day an intact platform that apart from communicating with people, is now also an open space for thought. 

You can share information about almost anything, leave a record of what you think, what you do and who you are. You can watch videos, share useful information, news, talk to your friends, what can't you do on Facebook? 

Well, last year this company made its integration announcement to Meta, which will now be the official name of the company, and which integrates to its credit both Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp. 

Currently, Facebook Meta trades for about $211.94 according to Google Finance. And although the index has declined compared to the pandemic era, it’s still an impressive number remaining as part of the most traded tech companies. 

Amazon 

E-commerce as it is known today, wouldn't be the same if it weren't for Amazon. It’s the most famous digital commerce company in the entire world, and a large number of companies that started to dedicate themselves to the same niche were inspired. 

While these companies can manage really high stock price numbers with a good marketing plan and benefits for users, the truth is that they are still far from what Amazon can really generate. 

Currently, each Amazon share is at $103.29 according to Google Finance.

Have you ever bought through this tech powerhouse? 

Apple 

Now it's Apple's turn, the tech company that has been part of the FAANGs since 2017, i.e. the newest of them. Apple has capitalized on the U.S. and global markets at levels never seen before.

And all this is thanks to its very stable ecosystem of services, in which they all work in an interconnected way with the different products of the brand. In other words, if you want to enjoy all the benefits as intended, you must own Apple products, from mobile devices, smart watches, MacOS, among others. This enables the creation of a very communicative, secure and stable ecosystem compared to other systems such as Windows, Android, etc. 

As of today, Apple is quoting each share on the stock market at $164.90 according to Google Finance, and has an upward trend. This means that it continues to be an important economic pillar in the technology sector. 

Netflix 

If you are a lover of series and movies, especially exclusives, you may have come across Netflix at least once. And you'll know that it's a pretty convenient and intuitive ecosystem, which even older people can handle with a little experience. 

Well, that's where the success of this company comes from, besides being at the time, a great update for the streaming world. Being able to watch a huge catalog of series and movies in one place, through the payment of a minimum monthly subscription, turned out to be crazy. 

This led it to become one of the most technologically innovative companies at the time, and later companies such as Disney and HBO wanted to imitate it and also succeeded in doing so successfully. 

And you may wonder how much Netflix is currently listed on the stock market according to Google Finance? Well, nothing more and nothing less than $345.48 per share. Quite a large sum for one of the most recent innovations. 

Google 

Not everyone may know the following fact, but if you want to know how this company trades, you'll want to look it up by its codename Alphabet. 

It’s possible that your first encounter with technology or the digital world through the Internet was with Google if you were born after the year 2000. And no wonder: ever since the beginning of this new millennium, Google has been the king of search engines. 

The largest number of pages in the world that are created each year, you can quickly locate them in Google, since it’s usually the favorite algorithm for many due to its great popularity in the market, therefore, the greater probability of being listed. 

Google has been the creator of many other tools of great importance, such as Google Meet for video conferencing, Google Drive which works as a support cloud storage for users, and even Google Documents, where you can create any document for work or academic purposes. 

Alphabet is currently trading at $103.73 per share. And although this value is low compared to previous years, it’s still one of the most authoritative technology companies in the market and of course, popular. 

What is the importance of FAANGs for the world economy? 

When you talk about FAANGs in terms of market capitalization, you are talking about approximately $7 trillion in the stock market between all these companies. So you can get an idea of how important these companies are to the global economy. 

Even at the time of the pandemic for the years 2020 and 2021, you can not forget that these companies benefited enormously and could multiply by 30 times their profits. 

So, in terms of economy, they granted a great percentage of economic growth even in times when talking about this was disconcerting. 

To exemplify with magnitudes, just imagine that at the maximum value of the FAANGs they had in their history, they represented more than the GDP in almost all the countries of the world, with the clear exception of the United States and China. 

But the fact that 5 companies can represent these figures is really incredible. 

What is the future of technology companies? 

Taking into consideration what we are currently experiencing thanks to technology and its developments, from artificial intelligence to the creation of new software and tools for users and companies, it is expected that this sector will be one of the most benefited and fastest growing economically. 

Think about it, at the beginning of 2010, there were only 50 technology and software development companies, and today, there are more than 200 globally.

What does this mean? 

That the needs in this sector are growing and therefore, the demand for new technologies is growing. Therefore, entering this sector can be one of the best economic decisions for the future, even today. 

And to think that it all started thanks to these great FAANGs, and that today, despite continuing in the limelight of the most successful companies, they have given rise to the development of other smaller companies that are growing by leaps and bounds. 

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