Here’s why Big Tech is slowing down

That moment you realize you re-named your company “Meta” (Source: Bloomberg / David Paul Morris / Getty Images)

“Big Tech” is most commonly understood to include Apple, Amazon, Alphabet (Google’s parent), Microsoft, and Meta (or the artist formerly known as Facebook).

Before the pandemic, these firms accounted for 17.5% of the S&P 500 stock index. Per The Economist, these companies have since grown their share…

… to ~22% of the S&P 500

Regulators across the world are trying to rein in Big Tech’s power. But in the near term, supply chain crunches have stopped them in their tracks:

• Apple saw sales growth in its latest quarter but CEO Tim Cook said semiconductor chip shortages cost $6B in lost iPhone, iPad, and Mac sales
• Amazon missed sales estimates and reported that in Q4 (the holiday season) it will spend billions of dollars to address labor, shipping, and logistics challenges

For what it’s worth, Apple’s services business and Amazon’s cloud operation are both exhibiting strong growth, and supply chain issues should resolve next year.

What about the rest of Big Tech?

• Facebook Meta notes that Apple’s new privacy policy will hurt its ad business in Q4
• Alphabet mostly weathered the Apple privacy changes but said that revenue growth is expected to slow in 2022

The only clear winner among the Big Tech bunch is Microsoft, which is largely unaffected by supply chain and advertising issues.

In a series of recent milestones, Microsoft posted its first $20B+ quarterly profit and passed Apple to become the world’s most valuable firm Friday, worth $2.49T.